Metempsychosis
by ZanyNY
Summary: Hermione Granger has spent her whole life protecting Harry Potter. Through wars, murderous threats, dangerous tasks, and school yard arguments she has stood by his side. On her 20th birthday, Hermione finds her head splitting and filling with memories from a life previously lived, a life she hadn't known about until now.
1. New Beginnings, Again

**This beginning of this story has been revamped as of 25/02/2020 - it was fluffy but painted the story into a corner from the off. Apologies if it all doesn't end up in quite the same place!**

* * *

19th September 1999 found Hermione Granger curled contentedly on a couch in Grimmauld Place, dozing lightly as glowing embers from the hearth warmed her toes. Somewhere between waking and sleeping, she found herself dreaming of Hogwarts, her feet suddenly feeling frigid as she padded across the familiar flagstone flooring on the Entrance Hall.

"Harry?"

A young Harry was running towards her with a smile on his face, arms up, calling for her to slow down so he could catch up. She could feel warmth filling her chest as she looked at him, his easy grin making her shoulders relax. She hadn't noticed how tense she had felt before seeing him.

Except.

Except as he caught up, Harry was looking at her with sparkling hazel eyes, and her breath caught in her throat. Something in the back of her mind niggled at her and started to break through. _Not Harry, James._

She could feel her brow furrowing in confusion. The warmth in her chest started to shrivel, and Harry looked at her with the wrong eyes, eyebrows raised, asking if she was alright. The shrivelling in her chest constricted her breathing, it wrapped an icy hand around her heart. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think. Her heart felt like it was breaking, like she was aching with loss, like she was watching the love of her life die in front of her, taking a piece of her with them. Harry was calling to her now, shaking her shoulders, and she was screaming and screaming without pause.

 _"Sirius! What's happening to her?"_

It felt like she could hear voices while she was under water, distorted and far away, and the Harry in front of her with the wrong eyes was gripping her shoulders as she screamed.

 _"Sirius! What do we do?"_

 _"Floo call Remus. Tell him it's happening, we need him now."_

The voices from above the water carried on as her chest continued to ache.

 _"Hermione, come on now kitten, open your eyes for me."_

The vision in front of her faded, somehow still in her periphery as she fought her eyes open, beads of perspiration dripping from her brow. Sirius was peering down at her. The periphery vision began changing as she tried to focus on Sirius but couldn't. Flashes through Hogwarts, people she didn't recognise, started to swim through her field of vision. Harry, but not Harry. A sandy haired boy with a scar along his jaw. A beautiful red headed girl. And…and Sirius? Younger, without the haunted look in his eyes that had never left after his escape from Azkaban.

And the visions carried on devolving as the right Sirius called to her, trying to get her to focus. Darkness swirled, she could see curses flying. Her chest gripped with fear and sorrow like she hadn't felt in years. Her lips parted, and the scream erupted, no longer contained in her head.

She looked desperately at her Sirius in front of her, and Harry as he returned from the fire place, agony encasing her.

"Sirius" she gasped "I'm begging you, make it stop."

* * *

 **20th September, 1959**

The sleepy village of Godric's Hollow would not have blinked twice at the brightly coloured character waltzing through with purpose at that moment. The residents had long since become accustomed to the eccentric nature of their beloved neighbours. It was the kind of village in which people were born, made their living, and then when their time peacefully came, were buried in the graveyard backing on to the tiny stone church. Any strange families here had been part of the fabric for decades.

Not that the perception of others would have caused Albus Dumbledore to take pause at all. He continued up the high-street clad in his bright plum robes, curled boots protecting him from the snow left behind by an early autumn snap. It had been an unseasonably cold September, even for the west of England. His long beard, auburn rapidly giving way to silver, was tucked neatly in his belt. The villagers glazed over the antics of the Dumbledore family, whose ancestral home was tucked away on the hill. The house stood empty most of the year until the oldest brother returned from teaching at his boarding school, and the elderly generation could again remark my, hasn't Albus aged well.

The only change from the usual that might have caused a raised eyebrow was the tight bundle of cloth propped in Albus' arms.

Albus continued towards his destination, pulling up in front of a brightly painted oak door, surrounded by twinkling fairy lights. Readjusting his bundle, he reached out and rapped on the door using a large brass knocker.

"Coming! Ouch!"

A scuffle on the other side of the door, a short pause, and the door was swung open, revealing a knee height house elf grinning up at him. The elf was panting, holding back an older gentleman by the knees by pushing back with one leg.

"Good evening Master Dumbledore, Hooky welcomes you to Potter Manor!"

"Hooky, come on now, we've been over this. Sometimes, I am perfectly capable of doing something myself."

Albus chuckled as a tall, wiry, hazel-eyed man clutched at his bent and misshapen spectacles, salt and pepper hair sticking up at all angles, and robe slipping off one shoulder. Hooky eyed him reproachfully and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'Hooky finds that debatable' before pulling Albus into the house by the fabric around his knees, catching his master with his other hand and dragging both into the sitting room.

As they entered, they were greeted with a flash of curly brown hair and a sincere smile.

"Albus! What brings you here to see us? What on earth have you got there?"

Albus studied the couple in front of him with warm eyes. Fleamont and Euphemia Potter were among some of the oldest residents on Godric's Hollow. The Potter family had maintained a home here for generations, recently extending the property to something of a manor when Fleamont sold the patent to his Sleekeazy's Hair Potion. Euphemia turned with bold affection to her husband, straightening his robes and glasses with a light laugh before turning her attention back to their guest. And suddenly she stilled.

"Albus, is that….."

Albus tilted the bundle of cloth towards her, and Euphemia reached out with tentative fingers. The newborn child swaddled in Albus' arms slept serenely on, unaware of the new pair of eyes looking down at her with tentative adoration.

"I was hoping, and I realise this is a huge imposition, but she's a muggle-born witch, and an orphan, and I had to get her out before she could end up in the system."

Euphemia pulled the sleeping baby into her arms, and with great effort wrenched her eyes up to first Albus and then her husband, trying to see through rapidly gathering tears. The Potters had been trying unsuccessfully to have a family for nigh on decades, and Euphemia had recently given up all hope.

"Dippet saw her name come up in the Hogwarts book, you see" Albus continued "but only her mother's name was listed beside her, and it was immediately crossed out. I checked, she died in child birth, with no next of kin listed. I didn't want this little one ending up in a muggle orphanage."

Albus feared he would forever regret allowing one of his previous charges to remain within the muggle adoption system. A child who could produce accidental magic was often ostracised in muggle society at the best of times, and without the unconditional love of a parent there for protection…well, children could be cruel.

Euphemia and Fleamont looked down at the sleeping girl clutched in Euphemia's arms, and Fleamont began to laugh.

"She's ours. Look at her, she's already ours. Look at that hair!"

And it was true, for a newborn, the tiny baby had a shock of thick brown hair they could already see was going to tightly curl. Fleamont tugged lovingly at his wife's chocolate curls.

"And no taming it either, my marketing department will hate me, but I'm surrounding myself with wild haired women."

Euphemia's laugh caught in her throat as her cautious elation bubbled up.

"Albus" she asked "what's her name? You said it was written in the book?"

"Hermione" Albus stated "although I imagine you could change it, her birthday was only yesterday."

Euphemia smiled down at her new daughter.

"No, I think that's perfect. Welcome to the family, Hermione Potter."

"Missy Hermione" piped a small voice from around Fleamont's knees. "Hooky is going to have to get used to saying that one!"

* * *

The Potters quickly settled in to life as parents, Euphemia delightedly decorating one of the spare rooms as a nursery with rich creams and gold trims, warm blankets draped over a rocking chair in front of the fire. Hermione was a calm child, settling easily in her parents arms as they rocked her and read her stories.

As quickly as they had been able to, they had hurried to the Ministry to complete the formal adoption of baby Hermione. By accepting her into the magic of House Potter, she became every bit their rightful heir as a biological child, despite her muggle heritage. Euphemia vowed to bring Hermione up with respect to her background, and was grateful for the support of their mixed community, providing a safe environment for her new daughter to know both worlds. As the magical adoption completed, Hermione yawned and blinked her bright hazel eyes open.

"Were they always like that?" questioned Euphemia.

Fleamont frowned, thinking.

"I'm not sure, but I think either way she gets the Potter trait now."

With her wild curls and her hazel eyes, their new daughter, by some miracle, looked like the perfect combination between the two of them.

And somehow, it seemed that miracles decide to come along in pairs.

Not more than two weeks after their eccentric neighbour had dropped off their already beloved new daughter, Hooky marched up to his mistress and demanded she set down a rare evening tipple of fire whiskey.

"No Mistress, you is not wanting that."

Euphemia stared at their admittedly rather barmy house elf with confusion.

"Mistress is not wanting fire whiskey while she is pregnant."

At this, Euphemia gaped. Fleamont poked his head up from behind his copy of the Daily Prophet with a frown.

"Honestly Hooky, what a thing to say. Stop whatever joke this is now".

Hooky rolled his eyes and pointed at Euphemia's stomach. With a snap of his fingers, a small golden light shone over her torso, pulsing gently in time with what seemed like…

 _A heartbeat._

Her eyes snapped up to meet with Fleamont's, and they both leapt out of their chairs.

"New Mister Potter is just hiding in there, doesn't want to show Hooky the bump yet" Hooky stated sagely. "Only a matter of time."

Euphemia shrieked and reached for her husband as he whooped in elation and span her around their living room. Never in their wildest dreams could they have hoped for even one child, and to now find out they were being blessed with two made his heart want to sing. And this one a boy; he couldn't wait to experience the joy of raising both together.

Clutching his hand, Euphemia pulled him upstairs to the nursery, bending them over Hermione's crib to gaze lovingly at their daughter.

"Just you wait, little Hermione. Enjoy the peace while you can, we've got a brother on the way for you."

* * *

James Potter surged screaming into the world on 27th March 1960, tiny fists curled and lungs in full working order.

Euphemia laughed as Fleamont winced.

"Well, it seems this one isn't going to be quite as docile as our well-behaved little girl." He chuckled.

That was, until Fleamont settled James down in the crib next to his sister, and she turned her bright hazel eyes towards the loud intrusion.

"Hermione, this is your new brother, James."

Hermione's tiny face screwed up for a moment, and her fist flailed towards the baby next to her. In a reflex, her soft hand closed around the curled fist of her brother, and instantly James stilled. Hazel eyes met hazel eyes, until slowly James' lids drooped, and the two siblings settled down to rest.

Euphemia, supported in the arms of her husband, smiled down at her children, her heart swelling with love that she had given up all hope she would experience. But here they were, the Potter siblings, together.


	2. Kitten

**A/N**

This is the last large jump in time, now we can get down and dirty in the storyline.

Also I fleshed out my plan some more and realised this fic might be ridiculously long. Please do review and let me know if it starts to drag!

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Kitten**

 **August 1971**

A familiar shriek pierced through the air as Henry looked up from his newspaper, spread over the counter of the bakery. Smiling, he listened to the rapid approach of footsteps and ducked into his display, before leaning out the door to his tiny shop, arms outstretched. Small fists closed over the proffered pastries as they were torn away without pause.

"Thanks, Mr Williams!"

Henry laughed at the familiar flashes of riotous hair, watching fondly as the Potter siblings tore off down the highstreet, as was their usual morning routine.

James led their thundering charge along the village street, glancing back over his shoulder to ensure his sister was keeping up, and slowing only so that he could take an enormous bite of croissant without choking himself. His sister followed close on his heels, giggling, pastry clutched securely in one hand, and her latest library book in the other.

"James, come on! Do we have to run _every_ time?"

James laughed at the feeble protests of his sister as they slowed on their approach to home. Linking his arm through hers, he pulled her along with a grin.

"But of course, little Hermione. No point going anywhere if you don't do it fast."

Hermione wrinkled her nose at his new preferred term of address for her. Up until recently she had always been the taller sibling, even if James refused to acknowledge her status as the older. But James' 11th birthday had seemed to bring with it the start of his growth spurt years, and he had delighted in the weight that his new found extra inches over her leant to his campaign as big brother and protector.

"Stop with the _little_ , I am _not_ that much shorter than you James," she whined. " _And_ I'm older!"

James brushed her complaint aside with ease.

"Dear, darling, _little_ Hermione. _I'm_ the big brother, so says the height marks on the kitchen door, and that means _I'm_ in charge."

Hermione rolled her eyes with a huff but continued to allow herself to be pulled forward, taking advantage of the slower pace to be able to munch on their gift from the local baker.

"Do you think mum has a secret tab with Henry, or do you think he just likes the challenge of hitting a moving target with a pastry enough to give them to us for free?" she mused aloud.

James laughed and shrugged. Whether it was their mother doting on them or their neighbours didn't particularly matter, as long as they were getting spoiled.

And residents of Godric's Hollow couldn't spoil the little Potters more if they tried. The older generation had known the longing Fleamont and Euphemia had for a family, and the years of pain and disappointment involved in attempting to have one. When the two little miracles arrived in such quick succession, the villagers had been delighted. Homemade knits, care packages, easily volunteered babysitting - raising the 'Potter Twins', as they were often termed, had become a community effort. The children had grown up with doting parents, and the doors of the community thrown wide open for them, magic and muggle alike. If some of the population found the slightly eccentric clothes the children wore, or the fact that they were home-schooled rather than attending the local primary, or the strange way in which owls seemed to swoop towards their house in daylight, they had long since decided to turn a blind eye. The Potters were a bit strange, sure, but they were theirs.

Whilst James Potter had used the wiggle room given by this unconditional devotion to develop into a wild, cheeky, and rambunctious child, quick to cause mischief and dance away from any repercussions, Hermione had remained his counterbalance in an attempt to keep them both grounded. She preferred her books to his sports, and kept the local librarian entertained with earnest debates about her latest readings. Whilst James often preferred to keep company with their wizarding neighbours, so that he didn't have to temper his discussions of the latest Quidditch developments, Hermione's thirst for knowledge kept her wanting to know about both the wizarding _and_ the muggle world, and her mother encouraged her interests. Growing up with both from such a young age kept both worlds feeling like home.

Euphemia had been careful to ensure that Hermione knew her background. A sharp child like Hermione would notice how close her birthday was to that of James anyway. Hermione acknowledged her muggle heritage but felt secure in the knowledge that she was no less loved for being adopted as a daughter to the Potters, rather than born as one.

As James and Hermione neared home, they saw their mother leaning against the door frame, wide smile flashing in the sunlight. Raised in her grasp were two large letters.

Hermione shrieked.

"Oh Merlin, they're here!"

Tearing towards her mother and snatching at the letter Euphemia held towards her, she sucked in a breath.

 _Miss H. Potter, The Blue Bedroom, Potter Manor, Godric's Hollow_

Euphemia chuckled at the reverent look on her daughter's face, and the impatient look on her son's.

"Come on in, you daft sausage, let's read it together in the living room with your father."

Fleamont and Euphemia watched from their perch on the sofa in front of the fire as their children ripped into their first Hogwarts letters. Hermione's eyes were zipping backwards and forwards as she attempted to take it all in as quickly as possible.

James let out a wail.

"Mum! It says first years aren't allowed their own broomsticks! Does that mean we aren't allowed to play Quidditch?"

"James, darling, I have been telling you this for months. I knew it was going in one ear and straight out of the other. And when you do your flying lessons, you have to use school broomsticks, ghastly things that they are. So be careful, and no showing off."

James looked utterly horrified; his sister wasn't entirely sure whether it was due to the lack of Quidditch, or the idea of not being able to show off.

Hermione was practically vibrating with excitement as she looked up at her parents.

"When can we go shopping? I want to get a head start on this reading," she said eagerly.

James rolled his eyes affectionately and ruffled her wild curly hair.

"Of course you do," he lamented. "Why couldn't I have a cool sister?"

Hermione stuck her tongue out at him, and pounced, knocking him to the ground with a growl and pulling his arm behind his back teasingly.

"I give! I give!" James giggled. "You're very cool….and very scary."

Fleamont rolled his eyes at his children's tussling, and pulled Hermione to her feat, tugging affectionately on one of her curls and letting it spring back to flick her in the face.

"Now now, children. Can you at least try to practice that stellar behaviour I know you are going to display at Hogwarts to represent this family in a good light?" His eyes twinkled as his wife behind him snorted.

"Stellar behaviour?! You do realise these are children raised by _you_ don't you, Fleamont? We can only pray they don't have quite such a lax approach to Hogwarts rules as you did."

Fleamont rounded on his wife, scooping her into his arms and spinning her around the living room as their children laughed.

"Come on Euphemia, the joy of having a misspent youth is that when you have children, you get to pretend it never happened and that you are the epitome of responsibility."

"I don't think there's any danger of that, Dad" James piped up. "You were the one that taught us to put food colouring into water balloons after all."

Fleamont winced as his wife glared up at him, releasing her and backing away with his palms raised in surrender.

"I _loved_ that cream carpet" she hissed, stepping menacingly forward as her husband continued backwards.

"Hooky!" she cried.

Hooky appeared with a crack, eyeing the scene in front of him.

"What is Mister Potter doing now?" the elf asked, turning suspicious eyes on his master.

Euphemia continued her intimidating advance.

"Get me the food colouring and a balloon, Mister Potter's clothes need a revamp."

And with that the elder Potters were off, tearing through the house. James and Hermione could hear shouts coming from the kitchen and the slam of the garden door.

"You'd think" said James "that with older parents, they might have a little less energy."

A reverberating crash from outside made them both wince, and James shrugged. Apparently not.

* * *

The next week found Euphemia bundling her children into the floo as they headed to Diagon Alley. In an attempt to keep them easily identifiable in a crowd, she'd encouraged both into brightly coloured tailored robes, long since learning her lesson that neither child could be trusted to follow along neatly without being distracted.

"Right" she said, tapping the brick three up and two across with her wand. "First thing I want to do is get you both your wands, then I'll need a top up of galleons for the rest so can I _please_ trust you both for _five minutes_ to stay in one place while I head to Gringotts?"

Her children looked up at her with wide eyes the picture of innocence. _Liars_ she thought as she burst out laughing. _And not any good at it either, neither of these could ever by a Slytherin_. She led them both to the narrow shop at the end of the street, gold lettering peeling. She had always wondered why Garrick didn't bother to spruce the shop front up every now and then, it wasn't as if he was short of magical implements with which to do so.

Hermione trailed her mother into the shop and looked around with reverence at the piles of boxes balanced precariously from floor to ceiling.

An old man with wispy white hair approach them from the back of the shop, and shook Euphemia's hand.

"Euphemia, my dear, so good to see you again. Are these your children? I've heard a lot of talk from Bathilda, seems to think Godric's Hollow may never be quiet again."

The man regarded them with amused eyes as James puffed his chest out with pride at the assessment.

"Yes these little monsters, or darlings, I never really know, are mine. James and Hermione." Euphemia encouraged them forward with a hand on each back.

"Excellent, this should be fun. Willow, yours is Euphemia? 10 ½ inches. Unicorn hair?"

Euphemia nodded.

"And Fleamont's, 14 ½ inches, cypress wood, unyielding. Yes, it'll be interesting to see how this goes."

He motioned for Hermione to step up, and at once the tape measure furled on the desk snapped up and began to measurer her arm. After Mr Ollivander had gained a sufficient number of measurements, he began pulling down boxes from the stacks behind him.

"Try this."

Hermione clutched a long black wand and frowned. She put it back on the table.

"It doesn't like me, I can tell."

"Not to worry, how about this one."

They continued in this manner for a minute or so, until Mr Ollivander offered her a final wand with little flourish.

"Here we are, 12 inches, walnut, dragon heartstring."

The moment the wand touched Hermione's palm, a small stream of red sparks emerged glittering from the end and Mr Ollivander beamed.

"Excellent! Powerful wand, that. Should be excellent for adding a little bit of urgency to your casting. Now, Mr Potter, let's give you a try."

They emerged from the shop with James clutching his new 11 inch mahogany and dragon heartstring wand with a grin plastered on his face.

Euphemia looked around at the crowd before stopping in front of her children.

"Right, I need to head to the bank so we can continue on down your list. Can I trust you both to stay together? Why don't you head to the book store and start gathering what you need, and I'll meet you there."

As she said off, Hermione eyed the suspiciously bright look in her brother's eyes.

"Shall we split up then?" She asked with a sigh.

"Little Hermione, I'm so glad you agree. Go on, I know you can't wait to get your mitts on those books. I'm going to Quality Quidditch Supplies."

"Honestly James," said Hermione, exasperated. "You aren't even able to play this year".

James shrugged, and gambolled off in the direction of the store, leaving Hermione in his wake. Hermione headed easily to Flourish and Blotts, not bothering to argue with James' assessment of her eagerness to get hold of their books. Her mother found her half an hour later, still running her fingers across different tomes of interest, having already piled a stack of their supplies at the desk to be rung up by the shop assistant.

Euphemia sighed.

"He left you for blasted broomsticks, didn't he?"

Hermione shrugged, not in a rush to get her brother in to trouble, and helped her mother to load their packaged and shrunken books into a shopping bag.

* * *

As they approached the quidditch store, they saw James sat on the street floor, leaning his back against the window display, chatting animatedly with a dark-haired boy beside him. James jumped up and ran over to Hermione.

"Sorry I abandoned you lil' sis, but it turned out worth it in the end, the new Nimbus 1500 has just come out!"

He dragged her to the display to admire the sleek broom perched in the window. Hermione arched an eyebrow at him.

"Honestly James, the day you get me to be excited about broomsticks might just be the day the world ends."

A chuckle beside her drew her attention.

"Oh! Sorry Hermione, meet my new friend, Sirius Black, he's joining with us in September. Turns out apparently that mad family can produce someone normal after all."

Euphemia clipped her son over the back of the head and Sirius wrinkled his nose but nodded in agreement. He reached out his hand to Hermione, who shook it with a smile. Sirius had all the air she might have expected from someone from a Sacred 28 family: high aristocratic cheekbones; the hint of a strong jaw peeking from behind residual puppy fat; and grey eyes that meant he couldn't deny his family heritage even if his scrunched look suggested he might want to. Euphemia and Fleamont didn't put any stock into the idea of the Sacred 28, with Fleamont instead gleeful at the Potter's exemption due to their historically pro-muggle leanings and a particularly bad spat with Cantankerous Nott over a lost bet. Which side lost remained a matter of family preference.

Sirius let go of her hand and reach for her mother's with an easy smile.

"Pleasure to meet you both, can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to a bit of normal company when we can finally escape to school" he drawled.

A screech from further down the street caused Sirius to wince.

"Sirius Orion Black! How many times do I have to tell you!"

A pinched looking woman in long, black, tailored robes was marching down the street towards Sirius, and Euphemia caught the sudden droop in the boy's shoulders, as if he was getting ready to make himself smaller. She stepped forward brightly.

"Walburga, cousin, how are you today?"

Raising an eyebrow in a 'you owe me' gesture to the children, she waved them off further down the street as she turned to converse with the woman Hermione could only assume to be Sirius' mother, and who was currently looking like she had stepped in dog poo.

Sirius sighed.

"Merlin above, got to love my mother. My initials are SOB and that just about sums up what she's like."

Hermione's eyes widened as the reference dawned on her, and she let out a giggle. Sirius grinned at her and reached forward, pulling on a wayward curl, and her giggle turned into an angry hiss.

"Oooh, kitten. Don't hiss at me." He teased, releasing her hair with a wink. "Didn't your dad invent Sleekeazy Hair Potion? It'd be a crime to tame this."

James stepped in before Hermione could get claws involved.

"Got all our supplies for school Hermione? Reckon mum will buy me a new broomstick to sneak in?"

Sirius laughed loudly as Hermione turned from him to James with a roll of her eyes, her cheeks still pink in anger at the breach of personal space.

"Honestly James, I love you, but can you try to follow the rules for just one year?" she huffed.

James shrugged off the suggestion immediately, grinning at his new partner in crime, who encouraged him with a raised eyebrow.

"Probably not" he said.

Euphemia returned at that point and motioned to Sirius.

"Right, she is sufficiently mollified. Chop chop and head back before she starts screeching again, Merlin only knows you owe me for that, I had to draw on several associations through marriage to get her to give me the time of day at all."

James slung his arm around the taller boy as they steered him back to his waiting mother, who was regarding him with narrowed eyes.

"Sirius, my new good friend, we'll see you on the Hogwarts Express?"

Sirius nodded and grinned, waving at the small family, and turning back to his own mother with a sigh. Hermione watched them leave with mild concern. It seemed like there were many reasons to look forward to the start of their new adventure.

* * *

Euphemia ended their trip to Diagon Alley with a trip to find a familiar for each of the children. James chose a beautiful Tawny Owl, who closed her eyes and nuzzled his finger with her beak. Hermione, stating that she could always use James' owl to write home if she needed to, approach the pen filled with part-kneazle kittens. Her eyes fell on a tiny Ginger Tom, with thick wiry hairy, and she pulled him into her arms and crooned.

"What a gorgeous little man you are."

The kitten preened in her arms, appraising her before letting out a small purr.

"How would you like to come home with me?" She flipped the tag around the kitten's neck and read _Tiberius_. And the kitten rubbed his face against her cheek.

James regarded the interaction with amusement.

"You realise the irony of this choice, _kitten_ " he said dryly.

Hermione turned her nose up and chose to ignore him as he laughed.


	3. Friends, like it or not

**Chapter 4: Friends, whether you like it or not**

* * *

The first of September found Fleamont Potter steadfastly hidden behind his morning newspaper, as a tornado of activity ripped around him.

" _James!_ How on _earth_ have you forgotten to pack your robes? I have had just about _enough_ of you – good luck to your professors for the next term!" Euphemia's exasperated shouts at their son echoed through the house, with several following pops and crackles.

"Hooky has fixed it madam. Young mister is all packed."

Fleamont risked a peak over the top of his paper, stifling a chuckle at the reproachful look Hooky was giving the youngest Potter as he held James by the ear and tugged him towards his mother. Euphemia tried to look angry for all of two seconds, before breaking down into tears for the sixth time that week and clutching both children to her as they wriggled.

"Now Euphemia, come on. They will write often, and we might actually get some peace and quiet."

His daughter looked at him indignantly.

"Dad! Can you stop tarring us both with the same brush please?"

Fleamont rolled his eyes and waved a hand in concession at the point. Folding his paper, he rose from the sofa and took in the now neatly packed suitcases; the two children tucked warmly into their travelling cloaks and clutching their wands; the kneazle kitten draped around Hermione, large eyes peeking out from underneath her curls; and looking at his wife he found tears pricking at his own eyes thinking of just how _empty_ the house was going to feel without them.

Hermione stepped forwards to her father, taking his hand, and tugging him gently down towards her ear.

"Don't start" she whispered with some urgency. "You'll set her off more, and honestly at this point you're the only totally sane one left holding us all up."

His daughter gave him a cheeky grin as she crooked an eyebrow towards the almost maniacally excited grin on James' face, and the distraught wailing now coming from both his wife and their eccentric house elf. He snorted at the sight, straightening and tucking Hermione under his arm.

"Right, we're all off then. Pick up your trunks and grab a handful of floo powder. What is it Henry in the bakery always says? Let's get this show on the road. So, let's get this show in the floo network?"

Fleamont ushered his family ahead of him, allowing a small pause for Hooky to kiss each of the children goodbye (and give a pre-emptive clip round the ear to James, insisting _'young mister will do something to deserve it, Hooky has no doubt'_ ). He placed a hand on Euphemia's back to guide her into the fireplace, as one by one the Potters took a handful of powder and threw it down shouting _'Platform 9 and ¾!'_

* * *

Hermione looked around in awe as she stepped out of the floo and onto the platform ahead of her. The noise around her was almost cacophonous, with the shouts of children and parents, meows of cats, screeches of owls, and the steady puff of steam coming from the train. She felt James grab hold of her sleeve and begin to tug in his usual manner of directing her. They paused outside a carriage and turned to their parents, Hermione's chest aching at the idea of leaving them alone for a whole few months.

She dropped her trunk onto the platform and ran forward into her mother's arms, as Euphemia kissed her on the head.

"Be good my darling, and write often please. And, if you wouldn't mind terribly, look after that rascal you call a brother." Euphemia smiled down at her as Hermione nodded and swallowed, not trusting herself to speak lest she embarrass herself in front of her new classmates by crying before boarding the train.

Fleamont tucked Hermione into a one-armed hug, and ruffled James' hair, as the latter wrinkled his nose and practically vibrated with desire to get onto the train.

"Yes yes, we'll write often, we'll be good, Hermione will pay attention in class. See you both at Christmas!" And with that James was off, grabbing his trunk and slinging it unceremoniously into the train, before turning and reaching for Hermione's.

Hermione rolled her eyes at his antics, and turned to her father with a look that plainly read _see what I have to put up with?_ And Fleamont laughed at just how much his daughter had picked up on his own mannerisms.

"Be careful with that one Hermione, he's never reacted to the level of spoiling the two of you receive quite as well as you have" Fleamont said as Euphemia tutted behind him.

Hermione smiled and waved for the last time, and then turned around and boarded the train.

Making her way along the carriage her brother had disappeared into, Hermione spotted a compartment containing a boy sat alone. The sandy haired boy looked young, probably only a first year like herself, and had his nose buried in a copy of _Hogwarts: A History_. She reached for the handle of his compartment, hopeful at being able to discuss her favourite of the new school books with someone, when her brother's voice rang out.

"Oi! Hermione! In this one."

James jerked his head at her, hanging out the door of a compartment further down the corridor. Sighing in irritation, Hermione considered ignoring him, as the sandy haired boy looked up at her from his book and frowned. That was, until Sirius threw himself from the compartment James had claimed and onto his knees in the corridor.

" _Layla! You've got me on my knees!"_

Hermione's mouth dropped open in horror at Sirius screeching song lyrics at her through the train corridor, students that were still boarding turning to stare and giggle.

" _Layla! I'm begging darling please."_

 _'Merlin help me'_ thought Hermione, not even trying to hide her exasperation as she abandoned her hold on the current compartment door and headed towards her idiot brother and his apparent kindred spirit.

"Will you quit that racket?" She hissed at Sirius, dragging him up from his knees and shoving him back into the compartment he had launched himself out of. "Where did you hear that song anyway, I wouldn't have thought the Most Noble House of Black would allow muggle music to be played in it?"

Sirius grinned at her from underneath long floppy hair, puffing at a curl to blow it out of his eyes and shrugging nonchalantly.

"I think you'll find I do a lot of things the Most Noble House of Black wouldn't approve of" he said. "Anyway, I think I like it. Hermione is a mouthful, now I'm stuck between Kitten and Layla."

He lapsed into silence as he appeared to be seriously considering his options on her nickname, and Hermione wrinkled her nose at him.

" _Neither_ if you wouldn't mind please!"

"Now now Layla, don't ruin my fun. We're friends after all, and friends given each other nicknames."

Hermione huffed, and muttered something Sirius thought sounded suspiciously like _'_ _easily fixed by not being friends'_ but then he was distracted by a meow coming from somewhere underneath the small girl's curls, before a ginger kitten emerged yawning.

"Kitten! Glad to see I made such a good impression on you in Diagon Alley! Well that's settled then."

Hermione scowled at Sirius as he sat back in triumph, grinning from ear to ear at her choice in familiar. James cackled from beside him, raising his eyebrow as she silently defied him to say _I told you so._ Suddenly the train lurched as it pulled from the station, and Hermione was distracted waving to their parents from the window. Her parents seemed to be regarding her look of clear annoyance with amusement as they both raised their hands in goodbye.

Settling back into their benches as the journey got underway, James seemed to sense a change of topic would be needed to keep Hermione from seriously falling out with his new-found friend.

"So Hermione, did you hear that Sirius here is probably going to be a Slytherin?"

Hermione laughed loudly at that and noticed Sirius' face had contorted in disgust at the suggestion.

"Honestly, James, I don't think you have to worry about that at all. Do you really think a future Slytherin would be caught dead screeching a muggle rock song down the train at a Pureblood lady?" she said with a mock posh lilt on her final words.

James snorted, although whether at her suggestion or her sarcastic referral to herself as a Pureblood lady she wasn't quite sure. She was heartened to see Sirius looked buoyed at her words, as if he had been worried about the inevitability of his sorting, and the tension from his embarrassing her in the corridor dissipated immediately.

"I just thought, since all my family have been Slytherin, that I might not get a choice" he said, somewhat sadly.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him.

"Of course not" she said sniffily. "Did you read _Hogwarts: A History?_ You'll be sorted based on your own personal attributes, not on the history of your family."

James cut in at that.

"Our parents were Gryffindors though, so me and Hermione are aiming for there. Right Hermione?"

Hermione shrugged at him, secure in the knowledge that she and James were lucky enough to come from a family where House membership would never be a reason for their parents to love them any less. She had no doubt where James would end up. Her brother was bold, brash, and fiercely loyal. He undertook his protector role over his sister with the utmost seriousness and was chivalrous when his hairbrained schemes gave him the time and space to be so. Whilst she wasn't so sure her own attributes were quite so clear-cut, she couldn't imagine being separated from her brother. She had been disappointed reading up about her new school, sad that if she and James were separated it seemed that everything was set up to encourage as much rivalry as possible. Whilst Hermione herself was not convinced by the idea of House rivalry, she had no doubt that someone like her brother, who judged whether someone could be his friend based on whether they also loved Puddlemere United, would grip onto it with relish. It had taken Euphemia several days and examples of happy friendships between Houses to lift Hermione out of her funk.

They relaxed into easy conversation for the rest of their journey. Hermione listened with interest at the short snippets of Sirius' life that he shared with them, learning that his parents were staunch believers in blood purity, and that Sirius himself regarded this view with disdain.

Hermione felt lucky that she and James had been brought up in a household with such respect for both magical and muggle culture, although she imagined this wasn't by accident. Whilst her magical adoption technically allowed her into Pureblood society, her muggle-born beginnings would be looked on with disdain by the other members of the House of Black. Euphemia had told her not to be ashamed of her background whilst at Hogwarts; other children were, after all, likely to realise that James and Hermione could not be blood relatives with their close birthdays.

A heated discussion over the current state of the British and Irish Quidditch League between the boys was temporarily interrupted by the arrival of the snack trolley. Hermione jumped at the chance to escape the conversation by buying some sweet treats, earning appreciative whoops from the boys when she launched chocolate frogs at them.

"Terrible aim, Kitten, but appreciate the sentiment."

Sirius laughed as Hermione stuck her tongue out at him, and then busied herself with reading her card to ignore him.

When the train began to slow and pass through a station marked as Hogsmeade Village, Hermione ducked out of the carriage to the bathroom for them all to pull on their robes, and the boys mercifully fell silent in nervous anticipation of their arrival.

* * *

"Firs' years follow me!"

The booming voice of the giant man ahead of them did nothing to settle Hermione's nerves as they parted from the rest of the student body and headed towards a lake. The small boats they boarded had room for four, and she found herself ushered into a boat with her brother and Sirius, and quickly joined by a pretty, blonde girl with bright eyes shining in excitement.

"Marlene McKinnon" she said breathily to Hermione, shaking her hand vigorously and then breaking away to lean over the side of the boat for a better view of their approach.

The boys entertained themselves on the journey over the lake by rocking the boat as much as possible, laughing at Hermione's narrowed eyes. The new girl, Marlene, laughed along with them and slung her arm easily over Hermione's shoulders.

"Don't worry, I won't let you fall in." she smiled.

Hermione's eyes widened in pleased surprise. She and James had plenty of interaction with others growing up, but not much of it had been with children their own age. Their parents had kept them out of the local primary school in preference of lessons at home where accidental magic didn't need to be explained away, and the other wizarding families in the area didn't have any children in the same age group. Hermione always worried that she didn't have the carefree roguish nature that she was sure would mean James would make friends easily, and that she might struggle more against her own naturally reserved nature. Hermione grinned back at Marlene gratefully, happy that it seemed their years of only adult company weren't going to cause issues with making friends. She leaned into the girl happily, and both sat back to admire with wonder in their eyes as the castle came gleaming into view ahead.

Once ashore, they were ushered into a small chamber to listen to a welcoming address by a severe looking woman who introduced herself as Professor McGonagall, and then to eagerly await their sorting. James and Sirius were entertaining the group with outlandish suggestions of the athletic trials they might be put through for sorting. Children from other magical families were laughing softly along with them, clearly understanding the joke, but Hermione caught the eye of a pale girl with brilliant red hair who was looking rather green at their suggestions. She caught the girl's eyes, and shook her head softly, rolling her eyes with a smile. The girl seemed to perk up at that and gave Hermione a grateful look.

Soon, they were being ushered into a huge hall. Hermione was unsurprised to see the ceiling looking like a cloudy night sky, having read about the charmed appearance in _Hogwarts: A History_ , but it still took her breath away at how beautiful it was. Underneath the vast ceiling, four rows of tables seated the older students, faces turned in anticipation, and a soft buzz of chatter was filling the room.

Professor McGonagall placed a four-legged stool down at the front of the hall, and onto this stool she balanced an old and battered pointed hat. No sooner had she stepped back than a small tear in the hat opened, and Hermione was shocked as the hat began to sing. She watched with fascination as the hat introduced the four houses, their founding, their ideals, and she found herself nodding in agreement as it continued on to encourage friendship and camaraderie with fellow students no matter their house membership. At the end of the song, the student body whooped and clapped, and then settled down in excited anticipation of the sorting.

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and unrolled a scroll before beginning to call the students forward one-by-one.

 _Abbott, Angelica_ stumbled forward nervously, the hat falling over her eyes and deliberating for only a moment before the tiny girl became the first new Hufflepuff, the hat shrieking the decision to the hall, and the table to their right erupted into cheers.

"Black, Sirius!"

Sirius was looking distinctly pale and seemed to look like he didn't want to move forward at all. Hermione reached for him, giving his hand a quick squeeze of encouragement. He gave her a grateful smile and took a deep breathe before stepping forward. The hat slipped past his dark curls and over his grey eyes which were screwed tightly shut. But before the hat could even fully fall into place it was screaming out.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

There was a momentary stunned silence, before the table to the far left exploded into a cacophony of noise. Hermione peeked at the Slytherin table sitting quietly under their green and silver banners and saw several people with Sirius' grey eyes staring up to the stool with disbelief. Sirius seemed determined not to look in their direction as he removed the hat and moved to the Gryffindor table, finally allowing himself to smile as he sat down, as if until that moment he had been waiting for someone to say it was a mistake and they needed a do-over. Hermione felt her chest swell with genuine happiness for him, and beside her James was grinning widely, sure he was soon to join his mate.

The list continued and the line of new first years thinned as more and more joined their new houses. When _McKinnon, Marlene_ was called, the girl turned to give Hermione a grin, before striding forwards, where the hat thought for a moment before shouting "GRYFFINDOR!".

When it finally came down to _Potter, Hermione_ , the small girl was feeling a little sick in anticipation. Taking courage from the gentle press of her brother as he encouraged her forward, she steeled herself and placed the hat over her eyes.

 _'Ah, another Potter'_ she heard the hat say from deep within the dark folds of fabric. _'I can only assume you are going to give this school as much trouble as your father.'_ Hermione didn't try to argue the fact, instead finding a smile tugging at her lips as the hat chuckled. ' _There's a great respect for learning and knowledge here, I know you would fit in well with the studious Ravenclaws_. _But I don't think that defines you overall, I see fierce loyalty here, and bravery in the face of adversity…'_

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Hermione sighed with happy relief as she tugged the hat off and turned to see her brother's elated look. She walked calmly to her new House table, taking a seat between Sirius and Marlene, as both leaned in to give her pleased hugs. Within moments they were joined by her brother, his own sorting as quick and easy as Sirius', and shortly after that the sorting was concluded.

Albus Dumbledore stood to address the student body, arms wide and eyes twinkling. His bright emerald robes glittered in the candlelight; she imagined she would think him a little eccentric if she didn't know this was his standard attire for the occasional Sunday dinner he would have at Potter Manor, being old school friends with her parents. He smiled brightly at the students as he welcomed them to another school year.

"Welcome all, and now let us enjoy another Welcome Feast, a meal only bested by cookies one has been specifically told not to eat. Tuck in!"

At his words, the previously bare tables in front of them were suddenly groaning under the weight of a wide variety of foods. Hermione looked at the culinary delights and suspected the work of house elves, wondering briefly in any relatives of Hooky were residing in the castle. If there were, she wondered if Hooky would have them feeding back on James' inevitable antics.

As she piled food onto her plate and began eating, she finally turned to Marlene seated next to her.

"Hi! I realise I didn't actually say my name earlier, I was a little bit nervous actually, makes me go a bit quiet" she said sheepishly, holding out her hand. "I'm Hermione, and thanks for protecting me from being eaten by the giant squid due to those berks over there."

Marlene giggled as Hermione jerked her head to Sirius and James, shaking Hermione's hand again.

"No worries, it looked like you might need some help corralling your charges. I've got three younger brothers, I know what it's like."

Hermione laughed as she and Marlene fell into easy conversation discussing the trials and tribulations of having brothers for siblings, especially as they watched James begin to fire peas at Sirius using his fork as a catapult. A loud tut made Hermione turn around, catching eyes with the red-headed girl from earlier, who was eyeing the boys with barely contained disgust.

"You don't have brothers do you." Hermione stated as the girl shook her head.

"Just an older sister, and she _definitely_ doesn't behave like that. I'm Lily by the way, and thanks for earlier."

Hermione shrugged and smiled as she took Lily's hand.

"Hermione, and the one throwing food like a child is my brother James. Target practice is currently Sirius, but I'm sure he'll branch out after he gets bored."

Hermione laughed as Lily wrinkled her nose, glad to have some backup against James' antics. She and Marlene listened with interest to Lily's life with a sister, and in a muggle household. Lily seemed relieved when Hermione told her about their mixed upbringing despite their pureblood heritage, and Marlene easily brushed over the notion of Lily's background.

"I was a little worried" Lily admitted. "My friend from home, Severus, he's been sorted into Slytherin, anyway he said that sometimes people have negative opinions about those from a muggle background. And wizards seem to have so little interaction with the muggle world, I was worried I wouldn't fit in."

Marlene threw her arms around both girls she was sat with.

"Don't you worry Lils, you stick with us, we'll see you right" she breezed.

* * *

Following the feast, Hermione trudged sleepily up seemingly endless flights of stairs behind a Gryffindor prefect. She tried to pay attention to the password, and let Marlene drag her forward through the passage behind a portrait and into their new common room.

The room was warm and inviting, rich reds and golds running through the fabrics and draperies, and a roaring fire doing nothing to stir Hermione from her increasing exhaustion. She hadn't realised how much worrying about not being in the same House as her brother had taken out of her, and the flood of relief at how things had worked out had taken the remains of the adrenaline that had been keeping her alert.

She quietly kissed her brother on the cheek before turning to head up in the direction of the dorms they were shown.

"Hey Kitten, where's my kiss?"

Sirius grinned sleepily at her and she rolled her eyes before sticking out her tongue.

"That's the best you get, bugger off" she laughed before running up the stairs, closely followed by Marlene.

Their dormitory was filled with five four-poster beds, their trunks already waiting for them at the ends. Hermione, Marlene, and Lily had beds next to one another. They introduced themselves quickly to the other two girls; Mary MacDonald and Alice Fawley both seemed like polite and friendly girls; before they all wearily climbed into bed, full from the feast and exhausted from their travels.

Before turning out the lights, Marlene turned and grinned at Hermione.

"Bed neighbours means best friends I reckon."

Hermione felt her lips curving up to return the smile.

"Yes" she said. "I reckon it does."

* * *

The next morning Hermione and Lily coaxed Marlene out of bed for an early breakfast, the other two throwing unrepentantly rude hand gestures at the early hour. Lily was eagerly anticipating getting their timetables and wanted a head start on finding the library. Hermione understood where Lily was coming from: she had all of Hermione's own delight in being studious, but it was amplified by a deep insecurity and need to prove herself, feeling an interloper amongst those who had always grown up in a world with magic.

The girls chatted and laughed, continuing to get to know one another over their breakfasts, until James announced his arrival with a boom of " _Hermione!"_ across the hall.

The older Potter rolled her eyes as Marlene snickered and Lily looked scandalised. Trailing behind James were Sirius, and two other boys. A small, shy looking boy, with brown hair and watery eyes was hurrying along behind James, struggling slightly to keep up with the taller boy's stride. Sirius seemed to be pulling along the last boy who looked somewhat stricken at his current predicament. Hermione recognised him as the sandy haired boy who had been sat alone.

"Boys, this is my little sister, Hermione" James announced proudly. "Hermione, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin."

"I'm not your little sister, James. I'm older than you."

James waved away her protests as usual, patting her on the head patronisingly.

"So little, so so little. Just stop fighting it will you?" he said, smirking at her.

Hermione huffed and turned to shake the hands of the new boys, introducing them all to her new friends. Sirius had to push forward a reluctant Remus, who stared at her hand for an uncomfortable amount of time before tentatively reaching out to shake it.

"Remus here seemed to not want to be our friend, said he was alright on his own. I've told him it's cute he thinks he has a choice" Sirius laughed as he forced the sandy haired Remus into the seat next to Hermione.

Remus looked at Hermione with _help me_ clearly written across his features, before resignedly turning himself to the food in front of them and helping himself to some porridge.

Hermione leaned in and whispered conspiratorially "sorry, absolutely nothing I can do. You have met those two right?!"

He turned to her and stared before his face finally relaxed into a smile.

"Sorry," he said. "I guess I just haven't had that many friends before, you get used to being alone."

Hermione could feel the sorrow behind those words and decided at once that she would befriend this boy, albeit she might go about it in a less aggressive way than Sirius.

"I get what you mean, luckily I've had some pretty strong characters here to adopt me too" she said, nudging her head towards a laughing Marlene who was currently dodging raspberries tossed by James. Remus smiled again, less strained this time, and his shoulder relaxed as though he had finally decided he would continue sitting and not try to escape when Sirius wasn't looking.

As they sat tucking into bacon and pancakes for their breakfasts, Lily tried not to look surprised or alarmed as the morning post arrived with a great screech and bustle of owls overhead. Hermione nudged her with her shoulder.

"You know Lily, this world is really amazing when you think about it. You shouldn't have to hide how excited you are by it all. 100 owls all swooping in at once is amazing, even for me."

Lily shot her a shy, grateful smile, and carefully reached out to stroke a beautiful barn owl that had landed in front of James. James tore open the letter from their parents before handing it to Hermione. Euphemia and Fleamont were delighted at their sorting but reminded them of the value of making friends across houses. Hermione thought about this more as she caught Lily looking longingly towards the Slytherin table and remembered a friend she had mentioned the night before.

"Did you want to go over and say hi? Severus, was your friend's name?"

Lily looked at her with wide eyes and shook her head.

"I don't know, he's in Slytherin." She looked nervously at the others in their group. "Don't they have a bit of a rivalry with Gryffindor? And Severus told me they aren't a fan of muggle-borns."

Hermione rolled her eyes, having very little patience for either notion. She stood up from the table and tugged on Lily's elbow.

"Come on, I think you should introduce us. Are you coming Marlene?"

Marlene stood at once, cottoning on to Hermione's idea. If Lily was accompanied by two pureblood girls, she might feel more protected against anyone who might have disparaging ideas about her background. Lily seemed to gain some confidence from the two bold individuals next to her and squared her shoulders.

"OK yes, I'd like to introduce you."

The trio headed over to the Slytherin table, ignoring the looks ranging from scandalised to interested from the other members of their House. Lily guided them over to a dark-haired boy with pale skin and a slightly hooked nose.

"Hi Severus, how was your first night?"

Severus was gazing up at Lily with awe, before shaking his head.

"I guess this is why you were sorted into Gryffindor" he said with a smile.

Lily seemed to let out a breath of relief and gestured to her two friends.

"These are my friends, Hermione Potter and Marlene McKinnon. Girls, this is my good friend Severus Snape."

Those around Severus who had been regarding the group with disdain softened their expressions slightly at the introduction of the girls accompanying Lily, and Hermione bristled that their surnames would carry any weight at all. It wasn't unexpected, their parents had often talked to them about wizarding society, but it was never something she had to deal with in the village. She ignored it temporarily to shake Severus' hand with a warm smile, determined to help Lily keep this friendship, even though it may fly in the face of convention. Severus shook Hermione's hand with some trepidation.

"I met your brother on the train, he wasn't particularly nice about Slytherin" he said warily.

Hermione pursed her lips.

"I can imagine, he likes any form of rivalry if I'm honest, I think he just thinks it makes things exciting. I blame it on Quidditch."

Severus seemed to relax slightly at Hermione's dismissal of her brother's prejudice. After a short, polite conversation, and assurance from Lily that she would speak to him often, they parted from Severus and returned to the Gryffindor table as Professor McGonagall was handing out timetables.

James and Sirius were regarding Hermione with equally outraged expressions.

"Honestly, Hermione. What did you want to go talk to an awful Slytherin for? And look at him, he looks dodgy from all the way over here!" James lamented.

Before Hermione could respond, Lily cut in.

"How dare you! He's twice the gentleman you are from what I've seen James Potter. How you and your sister came from the same parents I'll never know!" Lily's eyes flashed with anger at the insult to her oldest friend.

"To be fair" interjected Hermione "we didn't originally, but I guess we were raised the same so continue because your point still stands."

Looking at Lily's confused face she gestured to herself.

"Adopted, we're pretty sure I'm muggle-born but there's no record of a dad so who knows. Magically adopted by the Potters from birth though, so technically a pureblood. Probably not enough for some of the more fanatical families though."

Having successfully diverted Lily from laying in to her brother, Hermione relayed the short story of the Potters adopting her when they thought they couldn't have any children and divulged the closeness in age between her and James. Lily looked quietly delighted at the idea that Hermione might also face prejudice, and then an internal battle raged across her face as she berated herself for the thought. Hermione leaned into her new friend with a smile.

"It's OK to feel like that you know, it's nice to feel like you aren't in something alone."

* * *

Their day continued with a flurry of new classes and introductions to new teachers. Hermione was pleased with the advantage studying ahead had given her in terms of knowing the answers posed in class but sat back in amusement as Lily jumped to answer every question, her arm reaching high into the air at every opportunity as she both tried to prove her worth and held a delighted fascination with the new world she had been thrust into.

The wonderful feeling of fulfilling classes and strong new friends ended abruptly at the start of their Potions class in the dungeons, their first class with the Slytherins. As they approach, Lily skipped up excitedly to greet Severus, who looked pleased to see her, although he quickly schooled his expression when his housemates turned to watch them. Lily frowned at the change and manoeuvred them, so he was less visible.

"Hi Sev, how's your first day been?"

"Good actually Lils, we had Transfiguration with McGonagall. Did you know she's an Animagus?"

The two fell into hushed excited chatter as Hermione and Marlene leaned against the wall, waiting for the classroom door to open. A burst of noise from the end of the corridor interrupted them, announcing the arrival of the younger Potter and his friends.

"Oh great" said James with an eye roll. "Potions with the Slytherins."

"It is on your timetable, Potter" sneered Severus. "It shouldn't be new information."

James narrowed his eyes at the boy and Hermione felt her stomach clench as she anticipated his reaction.

"No one asked you, Snivellus" spat James, as Sirius grinned in approval at the nickname.

Before Hermione could intervene, Lily whirled on James.

"Why don't you just _back off,_ Potter!" she shouted, planting herself firmly between James and her friend. "Playing into House rivalry is so middlebrow, I would have thought someone with your upbringing could rise above it."

Her eyes flashed, and her chin stuck out, and she pulled Severus towards the classroom as the door opened.

Hermione looked from her brother's confused face, to Marlene who was holding her breath to keep herself from laughing, and couldn't help but break down into giggles.

" _Middlebrow_?!" she gasped between gales of laughter. "James, I think Lily just said you're essentially uninteresting."

Knowing this would appal her brother the most, she hoped Lily's objection would stir him into a different course of action and away from House rivalry. Still giggling at James' gaping, and the amused looks on his friend's faces, she linked arms with Marlene and headed into class.

* * *

 **A/N**

I am beginning to appreciate the difficulty of balancing the many relationships involved in a Marauders fic! Let me know any relationships with Hermione you really want to see, I might focus one some unusual ones but there's an eventual method in my madness.

We'll move swiftly through the early years, feedback on pacing appreciated! When they get older it will definitely get a lot darker. I just want to say that now in case that isn't anyone's cup of tea and they feel lured in by the bright wonder of the first years at Hogwarts. From my interpretation of everything we know about the Marauders Era, the first war means a lot of original Death Eaters still currently studying at Hogwarts, and it's what encourages our heros into the Order after school.

I'm aiming for 2 chapters a week because I'm currently writing my PhD thesis too, hopefully that works for everyone.

Zany x


	4. Write To Me

**Chapter 5: Write To Me**

* * *

 **A/N**

Please be aware this chapter might have some uncomfortable themes for some readers. I think we can all agree it sounds like Sirius' home life was awful, and we'll start to see glimpses of it from now. I've tried to deal with it sensitively but the implication is there.

* * *

Hermione watched Sirius at the breakfast table, trying not to look like that's what she was doing, like she had done every morning so far during their first week. The first day after their sorting, she had noticed Sirius' shoulders were drawn up tight, tension rolling off him in waves even as he laughed along with the boys as though he hadn't a care in the world. His eyes had looked bruised and slightly sunken.

As the week had gone on, she had watched as the tension remained in his shoulders, and his eyes darted up towards the swoop of owls that delivered the post, a small sigh of what seemed like relief being puffed out when none landed in front of him.

Only she and Sirius had made it down to breakfast on Saturday morning. The excitement of the first week had proved too much for most, and they were buried in their covers, taking advantage of a free morning for a few extra hours of sleep. Sirius was making her laugh with a story about a prank the boys had pulled with a toad and some fourth-year girls, and she was watching the tension unwind out of his shoulders, assessing him without having the nerve to outright ask if he was OK.

That was until the morning post arrived with a screech, and an owl swooped down in front of Sirius, a bright red envelope clutched in its beak. Sirius froze, not reaching for the envelope, his eyes suddenly looking more tired than they had all week, as if he was resigned to his fate. Looking up and catching eyes with a blonde-haired, grey-eyed girl at the Slytherin table, who Sirius had previously pointed out as his cousin, Hermione took in the worried look on the girls' face. She grabbed the envelope and Sirius' wrist, dragging them from the Great Hall as fast as she could, and into the first empty classroom she could find.

As the door swung shut, the envelope burst into flames, and the shrieking began.

Hermione backed Sirius into the wall of the classroom, pressing her hands over his ears to try to protect him from the worst of the vitriol spewing from the Howler.

 _Filthy traitor of a son, how dare you besmirch the name of this good family._

Sirius had his eyes screwed tightly shut and he was shaking, Hermione increased the pressure from her hands as the Howler continued, the woman's voice echoing around the classroom as she denigrated his House membership and accused him of plotting against the family on purpose.

 _You've bought shame on this family. You should be ashamed your brother has to suffer your association._

At this Sirius let out a groan, and Hermione could see a tear rolling down his cheek. The screeching ended abruptly, and Hermione moved her hands from Sirius' ears to quickly wipe the tear from his face, and then stepped back to give him some room.

"She isn't right" she insisted. "There's nothing wrong with being sorted into Gryffindor. You're going to make your family proud."

Sirius barked out a hollow laugh and finally looked at her. She could see shame and resentment crawling in to crowd his features and wondered if she had done the right thing by forcing him to endure the letter with her there.

"You're lucky, Hermione" he said. "You always know that your parents will love you, no matter what."

She shuffled awkwardly from foot to foot, looking down at the floor to give him time to compose himself. He seemed uncomfortable now that she had seen him so vulnerable, and she felt her heart ache for him. After a time, she tilted her head to look him firmly in the eyes.

"This stays between us, Sirius. I won't tell anyone."

He nodded at her briefly, his expression clearing a little as she tilted her chin in defiance. Hermione thought he could appreciate her allowing him to direct them on how they were going to react to this incident, and he took the space she allowed him to roll his own shoulders back with increased confidence.

"Lovely woman, my mother" he said, finally trying a small smile. "Let's not ruin any more time thinking about her."

He pulled the door to the classroom open, gesturing for her to leave before him.

As they exited the classroom and turned back to the Hall to finish their breakfasts, James' loud cry came from behind them, the young boy running to catch up and throw an arm around them both.

"Lovely morning, isn't it?" he asked with a grin, pulling Hermione in too tight by the neck and laughing when she pinched him to make him let go.

Sirius chuckled, and ducked under James' arm to race to the Hall. James instantly took this as a challenge, and dashed after him, both boys getting wedged as they tried to be the first to swing the door open and put a toe into the Hall. Hermione rolled her eyes, and just like that Sirius continued, as if he hadn't just cried in front of her. She was content to let him pretend it didn't happen, but resolved to keep an eye out, and be there for him in case of any further trouble. Merlin knew she couldn't expect James to show any level of emotional sensitivity. She looked up in time to see Sirius turning back to her before slipping into the Great Hall, a small grateful smile on his face, and she grinned, waving her hand for him to run along and tackle her brother like she knew he wanted to.

* * *

As the term continued, and the warm, breezy weather of Autumn began to give way to a much colder Scottish winter, Hermione fell into a contented routine. She, Lily, and Marlene spent much of their time together, the friendships developing so naturally she began to feel like she had known these girls much longer than a few months. Marlene was bright and vivacious, quick to give back just as much cheek as she received from the boys, and encouraging the other two girls into exploring the castle in search of their own little adventures. Lily at first seemed like the perfect counterbalance, intensely studious and bookish, but her fiery temper had her showing bursts of life, normally aimed at James, and she was the first to put her head together with Marlene to scheme some sort of revenge or another as the boys began to ramp up their pranking efforts.

Hermione and Lily often spent evenings in the library together, where Marlene would join them at first before yawning with boredom and sauntering off to go for a jog around the lake or else watch the House teams practice Quidditch, neither of which appealed to the other two girls. After a few weeks, Marlene's empty chair began to be filled by Severus, and the three formed an unofficial evening study group.

Severus seemed to be struggling a little with the dynamic between himself and Lily. Hermione noticed he was uneasy talking to Lily in corridors when other members of his House were around, and he had begun to pick a library table that was tucked away in a corner for their evening meets. It wasn't enough for Hermione to feel like she could address it with him, but she couldn't ignore the nagging feeling that something wasn't quite right. Still, he was clearly intelligent, and often offered some keen insights on the days' teaching that sparked stimulating, and sometimes heated, debates amongst the three.

"No, Severus, I just think you're _wrong_ " Hermione whispered fiercely at him, jabbing at a paragraph in the book open in front of them. "It _clearly_ states here that the emphasis is on the 'O'".

Severus smirked at her as he casually shrugged one shoulder, and Lily poked him in the side.

"Sev, you're causing arguments on purpose now aren't you, just for fun."

"Aw, Lils, don't spoil my fun. She was just getting going! I was waiting to see just how long she would rant on about one syllable for."

Hermione huffed indignantly, but sat back and grinned at him, folding her arms.

"That's just cruel, you know how I love to be right" she pouted.

Severus muffled his laugh into his sleeve and pulled his parchment back towards himself to continue with what was sure to be another flawless Charms essay.

Hermione's eyes drifted to the window as quiet settled back over the little group, and she gazed down at the ground from her vantage point. Suddenly, she lurched forward towards the window, narrowing her eyes as she saw a large shape tugging what was clearly two young boys behind it.

"For goodness sake" she tutted, turning to gather up her things into her bag.

Severus and Lily looked at her questioningly, and Hermione jerked her thumb at the window.

"I'm going to take a very wild guess that somewhere out there my brother and his idiot friends have found themselves in trouble again."

Lily wrinkled her nose in distaste, whilst Severus' face twisted into a look of outright disgust. Hermione held up a hand.

"I know, I know. Honestly, I'm not going to justify their behaviour, but I am going to go see what's gone on."

As she hurried down the stairs, she could see Hagrid the groundskeeper stood in the entrance hall, one hand clutching the ear of James, the other unsurprisingly pinching Sirius'. Professor McGonagall was stood, hands on hips, berating the boys, who at least had the grace to _try_ to look apologetic.

"The Forbidden Forest! For goodness sake boys, the clue is in the name! 10 points each from Gryffindor."

Hermione groaned at Professor McGonagall's words, watching as the red gems flew up from the bottom of the Gryffindor hourglass. It seemed as fast as she and Lily could earn House points, her brother was determined to lose them.

As Hagrid loosed the boys' ears, and McGonagall turned away, Sirius and James dropped their ludicrously insincere attempts to look sorry and turned to each other with faces etched with mirth. They exchanged a quick high-five, unaware of the tiny ball of fury stalking towards them across the Entrance Hall.

Hermione batted her brother round the back of his head, and he lurched forwards, pretending to frown as he turned to her and rubbed the sore point.

"Ouch, Mione" he whined. "Whatcha do that for?"

Hermione growled at him.

"The Forbidden Forest? Honestly James! This isn't Godric's Hollow anymore, you can't just run around like you own the place. I can't decide if I'm angrier at you for putting yourself in danger, or for your absolute determination to undermine everyone else's hard work in earning House points!"

Sirius grinned at her.

"Oh Kitten, if you can't decide that, I think your priorities are a bit wonky."

She looked behind the two main trouble makers just as Peter and Remus were finally making their way up the steps into the castle. Remus at least at the sense to look a little sheepish. Peter, on the other hand, piped up "it wasn't that bad, it was kind of cool actually."

Hermione regarded him with narrowed eyes, an unspoken warning not to encourage them contained within her icy glare. She turned to Remus instead.

"Can you not at least try to reign them in?" she huffed, exasperated, at which point the boy chuckled.

"You're kidding. What was it you said that first day to me? You have met these two, right?!"

Hermione conceded the point and slipped her arm through Remus' as the group headed in towards dinner.

She had been surprised, given the less-than-studious pursuits of her brother, and the fact that he seemed to consider himself the ring leader of their little gang of trouble makers, to find that Remus was in fact rather quiet and bookish. After the incident with the Howler, Sirius had avoided breakfast times in favour of having James collect him a bacon roll, citing tiredness at their increasingly late-night castle wonderings. His space at the table had instead been filled by Remus, who often bought with him a book to read while he tucked into his porridge. He varied between textbooks and works of fiction, and Hermione had been delighted when she first spotted him reading _Great Expectations_ and had quickly struck up a conversation with him when she saw him reach the end of a chapter, eager to discuss muggle texts with someone who might actually be interested. Since then they had swapped their favourites, and most mornings found them either reading in comfortable silence, or else passionately discussing some text or other.

James pulled her attention from Remus as they were sitting down to dinner.

"I bet Evans can't find me uninteresting now. Hagrid said we were the youngest students he'd ever pulled from the Forest" he said proudly.

Hermione sighed.

"If you honestly think that's going to do anything other than make her roll her eyes at you, there's no hope for you and your giant ego, little brother" she teased.

James narrowed his eyes and jumped in to tickle her until she shrieked and conceded to being the littler sibling.

"What are we torturing Hermione for today then, James?" came Marlene's laughing voice as she swung her leg over the bench opposite.

"Oh, the usual. She likes to try to punch above her weight" he replied, with one final light pinch that made Hermione wriggle and hiss.

"Merlin, I love it when you do that, Kitten" said Sirius, laughing and dodging the potato she aimed at his head.

* * *

The first term slid by surprisingly quickly, and before Hermione knew it they were packing their trunks and preparing to board the Hogwarts Express back to London. She scooped Tiberius up and draped him over her shoulders ready for the journey, his rapidly increasing size meaning he could now reach the full way around her neck, and watch the world go by lazily from under her curls. She blamed the abundance of castle mice to chase for his increased bulk, but any attempts to restrain him within the Gryffindor tower had been met with what looked suspiciously like a raised eyebrow, and he had continued to come and go as he pleased.

She and Lily had met Severus one last time in the Library the previous evening, and he had surprised Hermione by asking if he could write to her over the holidays. He'd looked shy about it, as if he fully expected her to say no, and he had smiled uncharacteristically brightly when she assured him he could and that she would write too. She expected he hadn't developed many friends within Slytherin so far, and Lily had warned her that Severus' home life was somewhat deprived. Flashing an encouraging smile at Severus, she had embraced him with genuine warmth, and laughed when he had only stiffened at the gesture.

"Take care of yourself Severus, have a wonderful Christmas. Maybe take a break from studying?"

Severus had made a noise that carried clear undertones of _yeah right_.

The first-year Gryffindor girls got a compartment together for the journey back to London, though Hermione had seen a clear look of hurt in James' eyes that she might favour the girls' company over his own. He had retaliated by lobbing a dungbomb through the carriage door half way through the journey, egged on by Sirius. By the time they arrived in London, Hermione was thoroughly annoyed at the whole of James' little _posse_.

She ignored the group of boys entirely as she hugged Marlene and then Lily to her tightly. Lily promised to write often, and Marlene assured her she would visit via floo if Euphemia wrote to her mother. Hermione was about to step into the arms of her waiting parents when she was jerked backwards with a yank at the back of her jumper.

"OK Kitten, I'll apologise for not stepping in and nixing the dumgbomb plan" came Sirius voice behind her.

Hermione turned and frowned at him, poking out her tongue. She softened at the look on his face as he looked from her and then nervously swept his eyes along the platform in search of his own family.

"Are you going to be OK?" she asked. "I'm sure James has already asked but come to ours if things are bad at home."

Sirius shrugged off the suggestion.

"My little brother needs me, he'll have missed me all term. I won't leave him alone with them for any longer than strictly necessary" he said with a falsely dismissive air.

Hermione nodded and didn't press the issue, instead stepping forward and wrapping him in a small hug which he returned.

"I forgive you for the dungbomb, but there's still a long list of grievances to go. Merry Christmas" she said with a laugh, feeling him shaking with his own chuckles.

"Merry Christmas, Kitten. See you back here soon."

* * *

To say Euphemia, Fleamont, and Hooky were delighted to have the children home was clearly an understatement. Potter Manor had felt almost painfully quiet, to the point that Fleamont admitted he had briefly wondered if he should go and get his hearing tested. In preparation for their arrival, Hooky had gone somewhat bananas with decorations, the Christmas tree groaning under the sheer weight of baubles haphazardly loaded into its branches, and Hermione was scared to get to close to any walls lest she be pricked by the bushels of holly that had been strung up.

On Christmas morning, James bounced into Hermione's room at an ungodly hour, as per annual Christmas tradition, and the family humoured him by starting their morning the moment he was awake, Euphemia preparing mugs of hot chocolate for them to wrap their fingers around.

Hermione was overwhelmed by the generosity of her new friends, a pile of gifts having made their way into her trunk prior to their leaving the castle. Marlene had gifted her a personalised bookmark, engraved _to my brilliant best friend_ which made Hermione's eyes sting a little, never having had a best friend before outside of her brother. Lily had wrapped some new quills in beautiful sparkly gold paper, and it seemed Severus had coordinated, sending her a variety of lovely coloured inks. Hermione smiled, remembering she had whined that she wanted to colour code her notes.

Remus had bought her a copy of _Pride and Prejudice_ , his notes on the novel already tucked into the front cover with a plea for her own thoughts when she got back to the castle. Even Peter had bought her some chocolate, and she temporarily felt ashamed about her so-far uncharitable thoughts that he was a bit of a wet blanket.

It was Sirius' gift that gave her serious pause. She unwrapped the package to find a thin box containing a silver bracelet. From the bracelet hung a tiny charm of a cat, which yawned, stretched, and curled up sleepily in the palm of her hand as she examined the gift. Tiberius leaned in and sniffed the charm once, before purring and deeming the new tiny silver cat acceptable. A small card tucked into the box read _Merry Christmas, Kitten, and thank you_.

Hermione's heart soared at the note, relieved that Sirius had finally put her mind at ease about the incident with the Howler. They hadn't spoken about it since, and she had worried she had overstepped some kind of mark. Sirius could really annoy her, with his and James' constant pranks and rule breaking, but he was one of her earliest friends, and she had grown fond of his wise cracks and easy-going nature. She was very glad at this sign the friendship was returned and hoped he would like the book she had gifted him: tucked carefully into a hidden slice in the front sleeve was a new record by The Who, a muggle band she thought he might appreciate.

Hermione held out her wrist to her dad.

"Please can you fasten this for me?"

Fleamont eyed the bracelet and charm.

"Only one guess as to who this is from. Aren't you a bit young for boyfriends, Hermione?" he asked with teasing concern.

Hermione wrinkled her nose at him. _As if!_

James looked over at the exchange, frowning at the bracelet and Hermione moved for emergency intervention lest he take their father's teasing seriously.

"What have you got there, James?"

James sighed, holding up the present he had just unwrapped.

"Evans has got me a plaque with the school rules engraved on it."

Fleamont and Euphemia guffawed.

* * *

Whilst Christmas at home had been incredible, and she had missed her parents very much during their first term, Hermione was ecstatic to be heading back to Hogwarts. She met Marlene on the platform as the girl raced towards her, wrapping her into a tight hug and chattering away happily about her Christmas break. The two girls claimed a carriage and waited for the others, greeting each new housemate arrival with hugs and squeals, and exchanges of thanks over Christmas presents.

They didn't see the boys until they were back at Hogwarts and clambering back into the Gryffindor common room. Hermione spotted Sirius in front of the fire and bounded over to him.

"Thank you for my bracelet!" she gushed, throwing her arms around him.

And she froze as Sirius immediately flinched out of her grasp, looking grey. He tried to play off the reaction with a wide grin.

"You're welcome, Kitten. And thank you for my Christmas present, I didn't have that album, and it was awesome."

Hermione was still frowning at him as he spoke, and he turned to move away from her and towards the dormitory. Instantly, Hermione noticed the stiffness in his movements, and followed him up the stairs.

"Sirius, are you hurt? Did you fall off your broom or something?"

He spun in the doorway of the boys' room and narrowed his eyes at her.

"I'm fine Hermione, it's nothing to worry about. I've had worse."

Hermione's eyes widened as she took in the implication of what he was saying.

"Did she do this to you? Did she hurt you? Show me" she demanded, reaching forward as Sirius continued to back away.

"Let it go Hermione, please" he begged.

"Is this because of the sorting?"

He hung his head at her words, shifting uncomfortably.

"Partially. They weren't pleased."

"What's the other part? This isn't…they didn't find your present, did they?" she gasped with horror as Sirius flushed.

"Sirius, no! Please tell me I didn't get you in trouble."

Sirius wouldn't meet her eyes and started to move backwards again.

"It's fine, Hermione. Let it go now. I don't want to talk about it."

And he left her on the stairs, staring at the door in horror as he closed it behind himself. Hermione sank to sit on the step below, head in her hands, wondering just what life at home was like for her friend, and terrified she had managed to make it worse.

* * *

 **A/N**

I'm loving planning out these friendships, and I hope you like reading them. Thank you for all your reviews, favourites, and follows, those little email alerts really brighten my day. Let me know what you think!


	5. Kind, Clever, Brave, Evil

**Chapter 6: Kind, Clever, Brave, Evil**

* * *

The following morning found Hermione fidgeting awkwardly at the breakfast table, Remus throwing her questioning looks every so often as her eyes kept darting to the door. Sirius hadn't been to breakfast in months now, so she wasn't entirely sure why she was anticipating an arrival that likely wasn't going to happen. She had tossed and turned all night fretting over the wellbeing of her friend and cursing herself for not thinking through the consequences of her daring gift. She had known it would need to stay hidden, and should have given it to him before they left.

The door to the Great Hall swung open, and Hermione's breath caught in her throat as her brother bounded in, closely followed by his enigmatic partner in crime.

"Morning, Kit" growled Sirius, turning to look her in the eyes with a clear challenge written in his own.

She narrowed her gaze.

"No. Did you just give me a nickname _for my nickname_?" She hissed at him, feeling her stomach unclench just a little at the fact that he clearly still felt happy to joke with her.

Sirius raised an eyebrow unapologetically, as she heard Remus sigh and sink further behind his book, settling in for the inevitable argument.

"Two syllables is too long" Sirius drawled, his aristocratic accent adding additional disdain to the idea of extra effort. "One rolls off the tongue so much better."

Instead of rising to the bait, Hermione dropped her gaze uncharacteristically, and merely returned to shuffling her eggs around on her plate. At this Remus perked up, now openly looking concerned.

James distracted them all from the current conversation by reminding the boys of the upcoming Gryffindor Quidditch match which would be played against the Slytherins. Despite Hermione's efforts, James had continued to embrace the idea of House rivalry, and she suspected this position was encouraged by Sirius, who had several family members in Slytherin that he was avoiding like the plague.

As they stood up to head to Transfiguration, Hermione decided to try to nab a few minutes alone with Sirius to talk through her concerns.

"Sirius, hang back for a second?"

Sirius turned around to her, and slowly shook his head.

"No Kit, you know McGonagall loves me. I couldn't break her heart being late to her class." He shrugged and quickly turned back towards the exit.

Hermione sighed, shoulders sagging. If this was James, she would have dug her heels in and insisted he stop being such an arse and just open up about what was going on. But she had the nagging suspicion that Sirius was a whole different ball game, and it frightened her to think that pushing him might in fact push him the other way. She furrowed her brow as she thought hard, wracking her brain for a solution. At least this way, if she was content to step back and let him open up to her if and when he felt like it, he could know for certain that there was at least one friend watching his back. If she accidentally pushed him away, he could end up feeling isolated.

"I think we need to tread carefully on this one" came a low voice beside her, and she turned in shock to see Remus waiting for her. He smiled sadly. "I tried to probe a little last night, but he's adamant there's nothing to talk about. I think we just need to give it time and space, he knows we're here."

Hermione nibbled on her lip anxiously as he spoke, before rolling her shoulders back and setting her jaw. Remus was right, if Sirius wasn't going to share with them, it was going to have to be OK for now.

'I understand. But, Merlin, am I going to start paying more attention to learning hexes' she growled. 'When I'm old enough, Lady Black isn't going to know what hit her.'

Remus nodded grimly, clearly thinking along the same lines.

Pushing open the door to the classroom, they were greeted by the sight of Professor McGonagall openly berating a smiling Sirius, as the other boys from the little group sniggered behind their hands. Apparently, Sirius had discovered the stern Professor's first name, and had asked for permission to use it. His eyes sparkled with mischief and Hermione felt a smile tugging at the corners of her own mouth. As long as he kept being up for antics like this, perhaps she couldn't worry too much.

* * *

As the harsh, snowy winter melted away, Marlene managed to convince Hermione and Lily to abandon studying in the Library for some time outside.

"A little fresh air isn't going to kill you" she had laughed. "And besides, Hermione can do a warming charm for us now."

Hermione had been rather pleased with her progress in Charms, and the rate at which she was managing to rack up House points from their diminutive professor. Sensing Marlene was using flattery as a means to get her own way, she rolled her eyes and allowed herself to be pulled out of the castle by her sleeve.

Lily called after them.

"I'm going to let Sev know our plans!"

Marlene continued tugging Hermione along until they reached a willow near the lake, a little out of the way from other students in the grounds. Conceding that the weather probably still wasn't _that_ great, and slinging her outer robes down over the damp grass, she flung herself down on the ground and stretched out her legs.

"I bet your brother is even more bitter first years can't play on the Quidditch teams, given the match coming up" she grinned at Hermione.

Hermione sighed and stretched her own robes out, sitting close to Marlene so she could warm them both.

"If I never have to hear the word 'Quaffle' again, honestly it will still be a day too soon" she complained to the giggling blonde next to her.

"Can you imagine what it's going to be like next year if they actually get to play?"

Hermione shuddered at that suggestion, but in all likelihood, it was a scenario she was going to have to get used to. Her brother was obsessive with his Quidditch practice, and from the conversations she had been forced to endure between them, Sirius took a similarly intense approach to the sport.

When Lily and Severus caught up with them, Marlene was casually stretching through her favourite yoga routine, listening to Hermione read aloud a chapter relevant to their current essay on turning mice into snuffboxes, a task Professor McGonagall had strongly alluded would make a part of their final exam. Hermione looked up at Severus upside down from her position stretched out on the ground and noticed him frowning down at her.

"It isn't warm enough for this, surely" he complained the moment Lily tried to tug him down to the floor.

Hermione narrowed her eyes as she noticed Severus looking nervously around the grounds before he took a seat with them.

"Worried this is too out in the open?" she asked, sharply. Lily sucked in a short breath next to her and Severus flushed.

"It's just…" he stammered, and pink tinged his cheeks. "Things can be a little strained with my Housemates. Nothing I can't handle" he hastened to add.

Lily stiffened.

"Is this because you're hanging out with a muggle-born?"

Severus hung his head and avoided eye contact with them all.

"It's hard enough being a half-blood sometimes. And then throw in the fact that I'm a half-blood who also doesn't come from money…" he trailed off, his blush deepening at his admission. "It's nothing I can't handle" he repeated, more forcefully this time.

Hermione regarded him carefully, but it was Marlene who piped up, looking at him from upside down and in between her own legs.

"Need us to kick some butt, Sev? You say the word, I think I might be deceptively strong. I reckon I could take break some pretty, classist faces."

She grinned at him from her unusual position, and Severus looked up gratefully at her, his own face splitting into a smile.

"No" he said firmly. "I like my House, I'm just getting used to the politics, is all."

To save him from further embarrassment, and because she noticed Lily was still regarding him with suspicion in her eyes and tension in her shoulders, Hermione continued her reading aloud from where she left off. She only almost squeaked in surprise when she felt Severus reach out and tug on a curl. Her eyes snapped up, and he gave her a small smile of thanks, before schooling his features into what she was starting to realise was an increasingly practised blank mask. She couldn't tell if she hated it, or if she was envious at his ability.

Lily was worrying her bottom lip, and then opened her mouth to cut across Hermione's reading.

"Actually, I've had some people say some pretty weird things in the corridor to me recently. What's a mudblood?"

Hermione stopped reading with a gasp, and Marlene landing back upright with a harsh, ungraceful dismount.

"Who the _hell_ " Marlene growled "said that disgusting word to you, Lily?"

Lily's frown deepened.

"See" she said, "I knew it was probably rude, but I was thinking I'm missing out on some rather key context for it."

Her face crumpled in the usual manner that it did when there was something about the wizarding world she didn't understand because of her heritage. Hermione looked at her sadly; she found it odd that Hogwarts didn't offer some sort of class on the wizarding world to help muggle-borns gain an understanding of the culture they were entering. Although she supposed even if there was such a class, this word would not make it onto the curriculum.

"It's a horrible word, Lils" she said gently. "It's…well it's equivalent to racism or homophobia in the muggle world."

Henry the baker had spent some time when she was a little younger discussing the nature of prejudice with her, and calmly explaining words that were unacceptable and their connotations. He had been helping her increase her vocabulary by reading the newspaper, when they had come across an article on the Detroit Riots. Hermione had been horrified to learn how cruel some of the world could be outside of her tiny rural village.

"You wouldn't call someone the 'N' word in the muggle world, right? Well you wouldn't call someone the 'M' word here. It suggests you are impure, like your blood is literally dirty because of your heritage."

Lily nodded with increased understanding. Hermione's explanation using direct comparisons to words that had outraged her in her own world drew her up sharply, and she realised just how hurtful the word was. And with sadness, she realised just how often she was hearing it.

"I get it quite a lot, actually. Never when I can see who is saying it, it just gets hissed in the corridor. I've just been ignoring it."

Severus, who up until this point had been watching Lily with a look of horror on his face, reached out towards his friend and tugged her into a hug.

"If you ever do see who it is, you let us know" he hissed venomously. "That's disgusting, there's no place for it."

Hermione hummed in agreement, pleased at Severus drawing such a clear line in the sand. His nerves at sitting with them apparently didn't extend to actually believing some of the propaganda the wizarding elite were rumoured to spread. She snapped her textbook shut.

"Well, I think we all need a break from studying after that. Marlene, show us all that downward dog move again. I'll give you 5 galleons if you can get Severus to do it." And she grinned as Marlene smiled wickedly at Severus, who was holding his hands up and backing away.

"Come on, Sev. Little Lils here needs cheering up" she sang.

Severus groaned and rubbed his face.

" _Fine_. But you had better smile after this, Evans."

Lily was already chortling.

* * *

Hermione ran down to breakfast the following morning, a little late and red in the face as she raced to maintain her usual morning routine, and stopped short when she saw the Gryffindor bench was empty. Remus' usual place was still vacant, and there was no evidence that he had already been and gone.

She frowned. It was unlike him. Over the weeks they had been in the castle, they had settled into a fairly regimented routine, and 7am found them both sat reading books quietly, stopping now and then to discuss something they found interesting. This had first started after Sirius stopped coming to breakfast, and had only been disrupted twice last term when Remus had picked up a bad cold for a few days and had needed time in the hospital wing. Trotting over to their usual spot and pulling out her current novel, _Jane Eyre_ , she hoped he hadn't succumbed to illness again.

James found her there half an hour later, a spoonful of porridge forgotten halfway to her mouth as she was gripped by the current chapter.

"Morning lil' sis" he grinned at her, nudging the spoon closer to its destination.

Hermione looked at him sheepishly, swallowing the porridge and putting down the spoon.

"Where's Remus today?" she asked.

"Oh, he said something about having an aunt who's sick. I think he's gone home to visit."

James seemed unconcerned, but Hermione frowned.

"I didn't know we could go home unless it was for something very serious. She must be really ill, poor Remus."

James shrugged, although a frown began to crease his brow as he too considered this. They were distracted at that point by Sirius arriving at the table.

"What's got you two looking so glum?"

Hermione relayed the information about Remus' aunt.

"Not had much luck, that aunt of his" Sirius said. "I'm sure she was ill the first week we were here too. Seems to have about as good an immune system as Remus does."

Sirius seemed unconcerned by his own statement; he was used to sickly witches and wizards, coming from the kind of line that was obsessed enough about blood purity to marry within the family. He assumed many other wizarding families were the same.

Hermione turned back to her book but couldn't take in any of the words. Instead her mind seemed to turn over this information. She couldn't quite put her finger on what wasn't feeling right. It was true, Remus had been looking pale recently, and she had noticed his hands sometimes developed a tremor, he didn't seem particularly healthy of late at all. Maybe it ran in the family, but Hermione was sure his father was a half-blood and his mother was muggle. It couldn't exactly be blamed on inbreeding.

The boys quickly turned the conversation to the rapidly approaching Quidditch game that weekend, and Hermione sighed.

"I hope we flatten them, the filthy snakes" Sirius growled, and Hermione's eyes shot up to him.

"Sirius! There's no need for that" she snapped.

Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Of course there is" he shrugged, unconcerned. "They're rotten, the whole lot of them. It's time someone brought them down a peg or too. Think they're so much better than everyone else, but they're just bigots."

Hermione gasped and narrowed her eyes at him.

"I understand that might be your experience from encountering some individuals, but you can't just write off a whole House like that" she railed. "This House rivalry is starting to get out of hand. Hate each other for Quidditch, fine, but you can't go accusing an entire House of prejudice and hatefulness."

"I can if there's the evidence for it. And there is, so I will" Sirius argued.

Hermione folded her arms vigorously across her chest.

"Do you honestly think Lily, Marlene, and I would hang out with Severus if he was spouting out hateful nonsense? And _he's_ a Slytherin, so now there's at least one bit of evidence that your theory is wrong."

James and Sirius' faces darkened as they always did when Severus was brought up. Hermione had a strong feeling that Sirius was simply rebelling hard against his upbringing, and that Severus was getting caught in the crossfire. It was her brother's reaction that had her a little more concerned.

"Honestly, James. What on earth do you have against Severus? He's our friend."

James titled his chin up in a sure sign that he was sticking to his petulance, and not about to back down.

"I just don't like him, Hermione" he stated with conviction. "He's a slimy git, and that's that. I don't understand why you have to spend so much time with him. And what, is he going to get you to support Slytherin the in the match now, go against your own brother?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes, finally feeling like they were getting to the crux of the issue.

"You know, just because he comes to our library study sessions, does not mean I am replacing you with him, James" she said softly. "And if I go to the match at all, which I doubt, of course I would be supporting my own House."

She ignored the scandalised looks on their faces at the suggestion she might not attend the match at all.

"I don't think you're replacing me" James said, stubbornly. "Just don't forget where your loyalties lie."

And finally, her little brother had crossed a line. She had put up with his arrogance, and his pranks, and what felt like some low-level bullying of students from Slytherin House, but enough was getting enough.

"You are _not_ my keeper" she hissed at him, leaving over the table menacingly with both palms planted on the wood. "I can be friends with whomever I choose, and that _doesn't_ make me some kind of _traitor_."

Sirius paled at her choice of words.

"I don't know where your attitude has come from James. Merlin knows you and I have both had the same upbringing. I think mum and dad would be ashamed of the way you act sometimes, I know I certainly am. Reel it in, before you say something you can't take back."

And with that she gathered up her book and stalked out of the Hall, leaving a red-faced James and an ashen Sirius behind.

James watched her leave with narrowed eyes, and then shrugged, trying to play off the incident.

"I don't know what's got her knickers in a twist, it's all only a bit of fun" he said.

But Sirius was shifting uncomfortably next to him, the word _traitor_ echoing round his head.

* * *

Up in Gryffindor tower, Hermione threw herself down onto her bed in a huff, staring up at the drapes above her.

"I _hate_ this whole House rivalry thing" she complained. "I can't wait for Remus to get back, he never goes along with such silly ideas."

Beside her Marlene giggled.

"I don't know, Hermione, I think he just knows better than to argue with you."

Hermione sighed and turned to face her best friend, wrinkling her nose.

"Well, I'll take that over those two jerks any day right now."

She was ranting and raving about the House system, but inside she was feeling forlorn. She hated arguing with James, it was never something they did much of at home. But she also hated unfair treatment. She didn't see any distinction between the way Lily was looked down on for her heritage, and the way James and Sirius were broadly judging others by their House. Neither thing was something that could be helped.

And in any case, it just seemed so ridiculous, this notion the boys had that children could apparently be sorted cleanly into _kind, clever, brave, evil_. There were many positive attributes of Slytherin House – ambition, drive, and the cunning to see visions through. What was to say those couldn't be used for good? Inventing a new potion took ambition; becoming a healer took drive; passing amendments to discriminatory laws took cunning. Personally, she admired those who could take patience and planning to reach their goals, and not simply show their hand all at once. Her mother often joked that Hermione was an open book; one look at her face and it was game over.

She sighed irritably, and Marlene gave her a sympathetic look.

"Shove up then, misery guts" she teased, gesturing to Hermione to make room on the bed.

Clambering in, Marlene wrapped her arms around Hermione.

"You're so righteous" she laughed. "I've no doubt you'll change the world, championing one underdog at a time. James will come around eventually. And if he doesn't, you'll still love him anyway, like the freaky almost-twins that you are."

Hermione turned her face into Marlene's shoulder and nodded, hoping the girl was right.

* * *

By the time Saturday morning came around, Remus was back in his usual place at breakfast time. Hermione bounded across the Hall towards him.

"Remus! I'm so glad you're back, how was your aunt?"

Remus briefly flashed her a confused look, before his eyebrows raised and he quickly nodded.

"Oh yes, she was fine in the end. It's a pretty common scare with her."

Hermione looked at her friend, concerned.

"Remus, no offence, but you look terrible. Have you had any sleep recently? You must have been staying up worried."

Remus pressed his hands to his eyes and nodded.

"Yes, you're right. It was a little scary, I haven't had much sleep."

"Remus! Buddy! Back just in time to come to the game." Sirius' booming voice echoed across the Hall, making Remus flinch. Sirius ran towards them, James hot on his heels, and Peter trying pitifully to keep up with their longer strides.

Remus flinched as Sirius clapped him on the back, and Hermione looked at Sirius reprovingly.

"I'm not sure I'll be up to coming" said Remus in a small voice, and the boys reacted with horror.

"Nonsense! It's the big rivalry! Lions vs Snakes! Come on Remus, you can't miss that" James insisted.

Hermione opened her mouth to tell her brother to back off and give the poor boy some air, but Remus shook his head at her, and allowed the others to draw him into a heated debate about relative team strengths. Hermione shook her head with a mutter of _boys_ and sat down to eat breakfast with the remainder of her book.

As the time came to head down to the match, James turned to his sister with a softer look than he had been using recently. He hadn't wanted to admit to her that he wasn't used to not being the main person in her life since they had arrived at Hogwarts. It was somewhat hypocritical, but he had thought Hermione would stay with him rather than forging out her own friendships. And one with a _snake_ at that. He wrapped his scarf loosely around his little sister and tugged gently.

"Will you come to the match with me, Hermione? Please?" he asked tenderly.

Hermione looked up at him with warm eyes, and felt relief wash over her at the tangible end to their metaphorical headbutting.

"I guess, since you asked so nicely" she smiled. She dropped her voice, so the others wouldn't hear her. "You know I'm not replacing you, right Jim? I've been so grateful for my friends here. And even if we disagree on some things, it doesn't mean we don't love each other."

James softened at her use of the nickname Fleamont often used for him and looked at his knees sheepishly. He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably, and she let him off with a smile.

"Come on then, let's go get good seats" she said, dragging him up by the hand and leading their rag tag group out towards the Quidditch pitch.

Marlene and Lily met them in the stand, Marlene looking amused at how grumpy Lily was over the nigh on mandatory attendance.

"It just looks unnecessarily _dangerous_ " shrilled Lily.

"Yeah, Lils, but that's where the _excitement_ is" Sirius grinned.

Hermione silently agreed with Lily but laughed at the vehemence with which the redhead continued to argue her point; she settled on the bench to lean on her brother, bracing against the cold.

The match itself was everything she had feared from a match against two Houses with such fierce rivalries. The two teams played ferociously, with bats, balls, and sometimes elbows flying furiously around the pitch. The crowd howled and screamed at various developments, even Remus leaping to his feet to cheer a particularly spectacular Gryffindor goal.

The Gryffindor Chasers struggled with the Slytherin Keeper, and Hermione could see James' eyes gleaming as he assessed each play, no doubt envisaging how he would have gone about it. A particularly vicious hit from a bludger sent one of the red-robed Chasers tumbling off their broom to the ground below, and the score between the two teams began to widen a little as Gryffindor became less able to pull back any losses.

In the end, the Gryffindor Seeker snatched the snitch from the fingertips of the Slytherin Seeker after a nail-biting chase across the pitch, and the stands erupted into a frenzy. Lily seemed to be stunned into silence, and Hermione jumped to her feet with James as he and Sirius bounced her up and down screaming.

Looking around the common room at the celebration later, Hermione couldn't help but notice that Remus was missing from where the other boys were sat giving a blow-by-blow account of the match in front of the fire. She supposed he had taken the opportunity for an early night, and she was glad for the idea that he might fix the purple bruises under his eyes, but she couldn't help but frown at how uncharacteristic that was.

Whilst Remus was certainly more academically minded than the other boys, he never normally missed an opportunity to hang out with his friends, or to apply his academic knowledge to enhancing their pranks. Case in point had been the previous week, when they had learned about sticking charms in class, and he had instantly mastered them seemingly for the sole purpose of sticking James' trousers to the breakfast bench until he had to choose between being late for class or stalking through the corridors in just his pants. James being James had taken almost no time at all to unbuckle and choose the latter, earning detention from Professor McGonagall, who held out his unstuck trousers two corridors over with her hand clamped firmly over her eyes.

Remus was bit of a dark horse, if Hermione was honest. He felt like the personification of the phrase _it's always the quiet ones_.

* * *

As the year raced on, Hermione continued to excel at her classes, second only behind Lily who still threw herself into each lesson with a fervent passion. Hermione was pleased to find Remus and Marlene not far behind them in academic achievement, although the latter could only be coaxed into studying when their little group met under the willow tree, and Hermione read aloud while Marlene exercised, or cloud-watched, or made daisy-chains.

At the Easter holidays, James and Hermione insisted Sirius accompany them back to Potter Manor for the break. Sirius had been torn at the idea of leaving his little brother alone in his family home for so long, and eventually compromised on spending the second week with the Potters, when they would also be joined by Marlene.

Hermione drove James to distraction over the first week of the holiday, insisting on the need to revise due to the upcoming June exams, and fretting that she had left her study schedule too late. By the time their friends arrived in the second half of the holiday, he begged Sirius and Marlene to help him kidnap Hermione from the family library and force her to engage in some actual relaxation. Sirius and Marlene loved Godric's Hollow, and Henry had taken to upping the stakes on the pastry game by launching four pastries one after the other into the air and seeing if the children could each catch one as they raced past.

Hooky was in his element at looking after four children, pretending to be cross at the pranks pulled by Sirius and James, but grinning almost maniacally instead of meeting out any punishment. Hooky's enthusiasm was only rivalled by that of Euphemia, who was thrilled at the tumult of noise and activity filling their home, and Fleamont spent his days regarding her excitement with deep affection.

When the time came to return to the school for the final term of their first year, Euphemia gripped each child tightly, insisting Sirius and Marlene return any time they felt like it, with or without her actual children. Sirius had looked uncomfortable at the hug initially, and Euphemia seemed to sense that he might not receive this type of affection much in his own home, gripping onto him until he softened and buried his face in her shoulder as he tried not to cry.

On their return to Hogwarts, the pressure of the summer exams suddenly multiplied, and even the boys knuckled down to study, helped on by Hermione's insistent hissing.

As their exams ended, Hermione was nattering away to her brother after Transfiguration.

"Do you think Professor McGonagall will mind that the snuff box was only plain? I didn't manage any patterns on it, it was so disappointing."

James pinched the bridge of his nose, weary from the play-by-play following each exam.

"Hermione, I love you, but you need to let this go. That was the last exam. Take a breath…that's it…in…out…aaaaaand we're done!"

Hermione rolled her eyes at her brother and tried to damp down her annoyance at the outcome of the exam. Unbelievably, James and Sirius had both produced beautifully ornate snuff boxes from their mice, and she was distinctly jealous. She didn't think she had seen them practise once and resolved to keep a closer eye on their transfiguration technique next year, it seemed they had a natural gift. Shaking off her resentment, she threw open the doors from the Entrance Hall and stepped out into the sun.

"Freedom!" Sirius yelled from behind her, arms spread out as if trying to absorb as much sun as possible across his body.

They flopped down next to the lake, Sirius and James plucking blades of grass and charming them to flutter through the air. Remus was lying lazily on his back in the grass, letting the sun beat down on his face. Peter was watching the flying grass blades with fascination and trying to get James to shown him how to do it, the charm somehow eluding him. Marlene bounced across the grounds towards them and flopped with her head in Hermione's lap, grinning up at the way the sun shone through her best friend's wild curls, making them look like a lion's mane.

"Who's that over there with Evans?" piped up Peter, suddenly.

"Are they under the willow tree?" yawned Marlene. "It'll be Severus in that case".

James narrowed his eyes.

"I don't understand why she wants to hang out with Snivellus instead of us."

Hermione reached out and pinched him.

"I thought we agreed you'd get over this, James."

James stuck his tongue out at her.

"You spoke, I listened, we didn't agree anything. I can't help it if I don't like him, you can't like everyone in the world."

Hermione grumpily conceded the point but felt sad that Lily and Severus wouldn't come to sit with them if Severus wasn't going to be made to feel comfortable.

She settled back onto the grass, watching the charmed emerald blades circle above them, and sighed happily at the end of her first year. She had friends, family even. The Gryffindors loved with a fierce passion, instantly making her feel part of a large unit. She was even grateful for the slower, more measured regard from Severus. She loved her classes and that she had others around her who felt the same way. She stroked her hands through Marlene's unruly blonde hair and sighed happily, closing her eyes, and letting the sounds of her new-found loved-ones lap around her like waves.

Reaching behind herself suddenly, she tugged on the edge of Sirius' robes.

"You will write if you need anything over the summer, won't you?"

Sirius winked at her and she rolled her eyes.

"OK maybe not anything. But write, and floo over any time you like."

Sirius laughed at that.

"Don't you worry, I've got an open invite from your mum. I think she actually likes me more than her own son." His eyes glittered as James launched himself, tackling him to the ground and pulling his arm behind his back until he cried uncle.

"Not true" pouted James. "I'm the best goddam thing in all your lives."

* * *

 **A/N**

Thank you again for all your kind reviews! We're out of first year now, they grow up so fast... Feedback always gratefully received!


	6. The Brothers Black

**A/N**

Does anyone want to be my beta for this fic? PM me if you do!

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Brothers Black**

* * *

 **September 1972**

Hermione was eager to begin another year at Hogwarts, pushing her trolley through the crowds thronging Platform 9 ¾. Tiberius, no longer able to be classified as a kitten, had be relegated from her shoulders to riding along on her trunk. _'Really, it's his own fault for eating all those mice'_ she thought, eyeing her familiar's ever-increasing stature.

James had abandoned them the moment they had stepped out of the floo, dashing off to try to find his rag tag bunch of friends. He was too excited about the new broom strategically perched in the most eye-catching place on his trolley to wait for his sister to catch up.

"Well, more of what you did last year will probably see you right, Hermione" her father said affectionately, ruffling her curls in a way that was becoming less endearing, and more frustrating. Hermione scowled at him briefly, running her hand back through her hair to stop the now messy curls from frizzing.

"Dad! We've talked about this. There's _wild_ and then there's frankly _frightening_ when it comes to this mop" she whined.

"You hear that Euphemia? Three weeks off from her thirteenth birthday and already I'm having to deal with lip." Fleamont defiantly scrubbed his knuckle on his daughter's head.

Euphemia stepped in, righting some of her daughter's curls by spiralling them around her fingers.

"Won't you be glad when you're on that train, and away from your annoying old man" she teased, laughing at Fleamont's outraged look at being called _old_.

"Keep on throwing around baseless accusations like that, and I'm going to embarrass you in front of the neighbours by skateboarding down the high street again" he threatened.

A shout from the side distracted the family from their playful tiff, as Hermione immediately abandoned her parents in favour of a slightly gangly boy with scruffy dirty blonde locks.

"Remus! I've missed you all summer! James said your aunt was sick again, and you couldn't visit?"

Remus shuffled uncomfortably on the platform and shrugged his shoulders. A slight cough behind him made him blush.

"Oh…Hermione, these are my parents. Mum, Dad…this is James Potter's sister Hermione."

Hermione stepped forward eagerly to a couple waiting behind her friend, shaking their hands in turn. She couldn't help but notice how tired both adults looked and wondered if the burden of their relation's illness was taking a strain on the whole family.

"Mr and Mrs Lupin, it's so lovely to meet you. Remus is a great study partner" she said, grinning up at them both and then at her friend. Remus' shoulders were tight with anxiety.

Mrs Lupin looked warm and friendly, she was regarding Hermione with bright eyes and a wide smile.

"Please, darling, call me Hope. Am I to assume you're the girl with whom Remus has been working through my book collection? Although I hear rather more about your brother. You two sound like chalk and cheese sometimes." A loud laugh from the Potters behind had Hope looking up with twinkling eyes, and she moved past Hermione to introduce herself to the Potter parents.

Remus' father looked more pinched, and seemed to almost vibrate with a nervous energy, quickly shaking her hand, and opening and shutting his mouth like he wanted to say something but then kept thinking better of it. Instead, he turned to his son.

"Stay out of trouble this year, be _careful_ " he said with a curt nod of goodbye.

Remus' mother returned from her quick conversation with the elder Potters, enveloping her son in a hug.

"I love you" was all she said, pressing a kiss to her son's hair. For a boy soon to become a teenager, Remus didn't look at all embarrassed by the affectionate display, instead he tightly hugged his mother and leaned into her kiss.

Hermione watched with interest as the Lupins left through the archway exit.

"Mum's a muggle" Remus explained quietly. "Apparition and floo don't really agree with her, they'll get the train back to Wales from here. Dad dotes on her far too much to cause her any discomfort."

Hermione smiled warmly at that. Mr Lupin had seemed a little strained, although probably understandably, but she always loved seeing older couples as much in love as her own parents were.

"Is it your Dad's sister that's ill, Remus?"

Remus flushed a little but nodded, and Hermione backed off, assuming he didn't want to talk about it.

Turning, she introduced Remus to her parents as one of James' "merry band of ruffians" as was her favourite phrase from one of the letters Professor McGonagall had sent home. Euphemia hugged Remus warmly, and warned him not to let James lead him astray. Remus lost some of the nervous tension in his shoulders as his eyes sparkled with mischief, and Hermione thought back to some of the more ingenious pranks she was sure Remus masterminded the year before.

"I think he can do quite enough leading on his own, Mum" she laughed, tugging Remus towards the train.

Fleamont and Euphemia waved them off from the platform, and Hermione heaved her luggage into a storage rack, setting Tiberius free to pester people in the corridor. She set off after the other member of her impromptu book club in search of familiar faces, peeking through the glass doors of the compartments.

When she spotted Remus stepping into a compartment further up, she hurried along and poked her head through the door.

"Top of the range! I've been practising at home, it's a much smoother ride than my Cleansweep, and it's got cushioning charms. I know there's an open spot for a Chaser this year, so I'm going to try out."

Her brother was chatting animatedly, holding his broom out proudly. Peter was regarding the implement with the utmost awe and hanging off every word James was saying. Hermione turned to Sirius to share an amused look at James' captive audience and saw a boy she didn't recognise sat beside him. She didn't have to wonder for long to know who the boy was.

"Morning Kitten, long time no see" Sirius grinned.

"You literally saw me yesterday" she huffed. "In fact, did you go home at all this summer?"

The boy next to Sirius eyed him reproachfully, but Sirius just laughed.

"This is my little brother Regulus. Regulus, this is Kitten."

Hermione made a small noise of outrage in the back of her throat.

" _Hermione_ if you _don't_ mind!" she spluttered. Turning to Regulus she said, "I just about put up with this idiot calling me by ridiculous nicknames." But she held out her hand in a gesture of friendship.

The connection between Regulus and Sirius was easily identifiable through their looks, although certainly not demeanour. He shared the same high cheekbones and strong jaw, although carrying more of the puppy fat that was melting rapidly from his older brother's face; he regarded her with identical smoky grey eyes; his black hair was long like Sirius', although the curls were more carefully tamed. Whilst they shared many physical attributes, Hermione couldn't help but think it was the behavioural attributes that set these brothers apart. Sirius lounged against the back of the bench with an easy grace, posture relaxed, face openly smiling, pearly teeth glinting. Regulus on the other hand sat with a straight back, a measured expression on his face, regarding her with a dark eyebrow raised. She suddenly felt the need to smooth down her hair.

"Charmed, I'm sure" he drawled as he gave Hermione's hand a brief shake. "Although it seems to me that _Kitten_ is somewhat more of a _pet_ name than it is a nickname."

He turned his raised eyebrow to his brother, who pinked somewhat. Hermione ignored the comment.

"Budge up then" she gestured for Regulus and Sirius to squish further along the bench, so she could perch on the end. "I'll wait here until Marlene inevitably comes to find me."

The brothers shuffled, and Hermione wriggled in next to Regulus.

"How were your summers when Sirius wasn't camped out at ours?"

At this Regulus' face softened, and he looked at his brother with nervous eyes. Sirius pretended not to see the look, breezing "same old, same old" with a dismissive wave of his hand. Regulus cast his eyes down, suddenly look as if _same old_ was exactly the problem. Hermione regretted her question.

"I can't wait for this year." Sirius was bouncing with excitement. "I'm determined that Reggie's going to join us. Like old times! The Black Brothers, Professor McGonagall is going to have kittens trying to keep us tamed."

Regulus looked more than a little sick.

"I imagine I'll be in Slytherin" the younger boy said quietly, tearing his eyes from the floor to look up at his older brother. "I'm not quite as brave as you."

"Nonsense" barked Sirius. "Go where you want to go, don't listen to what that old harpy says."

"Yeah!" chimed in James. "And who'd want to be a sneaky snake anyway?"

Hermione felt something in her stomach knot. Whether or not Regulus would choose to simply honour family tradition, it was quite clear that he did not share much of the traits that made Sirius a Gryffindor. His expression was too reserved, his manners too practised. He looked in every way the epitome of those Slytherins she had admired the previous school year.

She was intensely glad when the door was thrown open, and Marlene bounced into the compartment.

"Boys!" she greeted with enthusiasm. "I'm stealing Hermione, you can have her back next June."

Hermione grinned at her friend and took her proffered hand to allow herself to be pulled to her feet. Marlene had been travelling over the summer, and Hermione had missed her, having only the _boys_ and _quidditch_ as distractions. Her friend had developed a lovely tan on her travels and looked thoroughly relaxed.

"Hey! We had her first" pouted Sirius, hooking a finger into the back of Hermione's robes.

"Sorry Sirius, best friend gets dibs!" Marlene countered, yanking Hermione forward, and the latter choked at the pull of her robes around her neck. "Oops, sorry 'Mione. You guys are only going to bore her to death with broom talk anyway, I need her alive to help me study. You aren't going to make me read my _own books_ are you, Siri?"

Hermione rolled her eyes at the way Marlene exaggeratedly batted her eyelashes at Sirius, and pushed her way out into the corridor. Poking her head back through the door she caught Sirius mouthing _'Siri?!'_ in disbelief.

"You deserve that!" she laughed, pulling the door shut with a click behind her and setting off after Marlene.

Regulus turned to his older brother.

"I like her" he said, smirking at the scowl on his sibling's face.

* * *

Hermione could see the anxiety written over Sirius' face as he twisted the sleeve of his robes between his fingers. Regulus was sat up on the stool, the Sorting Hat seeming to be deliberating in its decision.

"SLYTHERIN!"

The disappointment and grief emanating from Sirius was almost thick enough for the surrounding Gryffindors to taste. Hermione's mouth tingled with the bitterness, and she reached without thinking to stroke the soft curls of her friend's hair. Regulus turned his face towards them, hurt clearly reflecting in his eyes when his brother refused to meet his gaze. Hermione caught him instead, offering him what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

James pushed forward a chocolate frog he had saved from the train, having worried about this scenario.

"No worries, Sirius. You've got us as brothers."

Sirius smiled gratefully, even as Hermione's jaw dropped in shock.

" _James_ " she hissed "his brother isn't _dead_ and he isn't in any way changed from the brother he loved literally _half an hour_ ago! What if it was me in Slytherin?"

James gasped "you would never!"

"But what if I _had_? Would you not love me anymore?"

James looked down at his food sheepishly.

"I'd always love you, Hermione."

She nodded at her brother, but narrowed her eyes when Sirius refused to meet her gaze.

"He's your brother, just treat him like normal. It's rubbish that he won't be in the dormitories with us but I'm sure you can lead him astray just fine from the Gryffindor tower. Think of it as expanding your mischief enterprises."

James grinned at that, and Sirius perked up, his back sitting a little straighter. It was Peter who earned her wrath at that point.

"He's a snake, and we hate snakes." He said with finality. "James is right, we're your brothers now."

Hermione thought that if she could shoot hexes out of her eyes, she might have just done so then. Of all her brother's friends, she just couldn't warm to Peter. James didn't need some sycophant, encouraging every childish notion. He needed real challenge, to encourage real growth.

Before she could retort, she was distracted by the end of the sorting, and the appearance of the food. Turning from the boys, lest she begin the school year with an argument, she instead listened to tales of Lily and Marlene's summers.

"Italy was perfect, so much sunshine, clear blue seas, seriously hunky locals" Marlene's eyes sparkled as Lily blushed and then pressed for more details.

"Never took you for the kind of girl to spend her days gossiping about boys, Marlene" teased Hermione, wrinkling her nose in distaste.

"You're just jealous because all you've had in the way of eye candy all summer is Sirius Black" came her best friend's retort.

"Ugh" groaned Lily. "I really don't envy you all those weeks with nothing but those two for company."

The group turned in time to see Sirius with his tie wrapped like a bandana around his head, as James graduated from flicking peas with a fork catapult to levitating them and firing them at Peter with his wand. Hermione waved her hand towards them shoulders laced with defeat.

"Pretty much how my whole summer has gone."

* * *

"Regulus, I've been trying to talk to you for weeks."

Hermione's heart leapt a little as she heard the voices echoing from a small corridor she was walking past, and she slowed, recognising Sirius' voice.

"I know Sirius, but you can't."

Regulus sounded torn, clear frustration colouring his tone.

"That's it now? You're sorted into Slytherin, you can become the perfect son and cut me out like I know the rest of them are plotting to do at home?"

"No! You don't understand, this isn't my choice."

"Isn't it? Tell me Reggie, why did the hat take so long to sort you."

There was a heavy pause, and Hermione held her breath. She could envision Regulus now, looking down at the floor the same way he had done in their compartment on the Hogwarts Express.

"She made me promise, Sirius. I wasn't brave enough."

Sirius pulled in a sharp breath.

"Show me."

A small tussle, with some weak protests, and Sirius roared in frustration.

"You should have told me! I wouldn't have spent all that time with James!"

"No! _For once_ I wanted to make sure it wasn't _you_ on the receiving end."

"I'm the older brother! It's my job to protect you." Sirius' voice was cracking with emotion.

"You didn't care about me last year when you got sorted. You've moved on with your new friends, your new _brothers_ and never looked back at me. It's all on me now, they're putting the whole damn House of Black –"

Regulus cut off abruptly, and Hermione heard footsteps approach from the other end of the corridor. Slowly, she backtracked a few steps so that she could make the turning too.

"Well well, isn't this nice. A little Black reunion."

Hermione turned in time to see a scowling Sirius half stood in front of his younger brother, facing off against a slightly older boy she recognised.

"Rosier" hissed Sirius. "Don't you have somewhere else to be?"

Rosier grinned widely at Sirius, but it didn't reach to his eyes. Instead the effect came off more as if he was baring his teeth. He turned his attention to the younger of the brothers.

" _Reggie_ " he drawled, reaching his hand out slowly in front of himself to inspect his manicured fingernails. "You've been told, I know. And I don't particularly enjoy playing this guard dog role. Say goodbye to the blood traitor now please."

Hermione sucked in a breath at his terminology and stepped forward.

"Sirius, Regulus" she nodded in greeting. "We should all be getting on to class now, don't you think?"

She wasn't looking at the two boys closest to her, instead staring Evan Rosier in the eyes.

"Evan, good to see you. How is third year treating you?"

She played for a casual air and was pretty sure she had missed by miles, the venom with which he had hissed the term _blood traitor_ made her own blood run cold. But she had spent some time with Evan the year previous, him being someone that Severus particularly looked up to, and he had been invaluable in helping with some Defence Against the Dark Arts homework by thoroughly explaining the body bind curse they had been learning the counter-curse for. Evan's smile widened at her approach and seemed to turn up somewhat genuinely at the corners.

"Hermione, what a pleasure. My year is now much better for seeing you" he flirted casually, smirking at her.

Hermione felt Sirius stiffen slightly at the side of her, and Evan caught the movement, eyes suddenly alight with interest. She reached forward for his arm.

"Walk me to class, Evan? I've got transfiguration now. Let's leave these two to their reconciliation. I still think the divide between Gryffindor and Slytherin is senseless."

Evan quirked an eyebrow at her and placed his hand over her own on his arm. Until now, she wouldn't have thought anything of it, but suddenly she was feeling as though she needed to summon some Gryffindor courage to make it through this conversation.

"I'm afraid I can't _ma bichette_ " he replied, silkily. "Regulus and I must be off for a little chat of our own." And he turned to throw a casual arm around Regulus, whose face was closed off behind an impassive mask.

"I'll be going then" he said, raising his top lip in a sneer that made Sirius recoil a little. "Don't bother trying to talk to me again. I'll see you at Christmas if I have to."

Hermione caught Sirius' hand as he moved to protest, and the two Slytherins left in the direct of the dungeons. When they reached the end of the corridor, Regulus turned slightly and caught Hermione's eyes, giving her a barely perceptible nod.

When they were alone, Sirius let out a roar of frustration, and slammed his fist into the wall hard enough to make the knuckle split.

"What the _fuck_ was that?" he hissed, rounding on Hermione. She cringed.

"I've never heard Evan say things like that before. What the hell was going on with Regulus? Is he trying to protect you?"

Sirius scowled down at his feet, grinding his teeth together. Hermione huffed out a frustrated sigh and tugged on Sirius' elbow.

"Don't block me out, Sirius. I'm your _friend_ , I can _help_. If nothing else, I know Severus has been assigned as his mentor, I could watch out for Regulus for you."

Something akin to either gratitude or relief flashed across Sirius' face for the briefest second, before it closed again. Instead he sneered at her raising of Severus.

"The same Snivellus who has you mixing with the likes of Rosier in the first place? And what is with the pet name?"

She bristled at that, and felt her temper rising.

"Apparently instead of friends, I'm collecting annoying little bullies who like to give me animal names."

She broke eye contact at the hurt look on his face, and stared down at her toes, trying to get her breathing back under control. Finally, she looked up, and tried to smooth things over.

"I'll trade you" she said, and he cocked his head in question. "Shake it off and walk with me to transfiguration, and I'll tell you about that time that I heard Professor Dumbledore refer to McGonagall as _Minnie_."

* * *

When Hermione made her way up to the common room later that evening, she left Marlene and Lily and instead moved to squeeze herself on the sofa next to James, wriggling Peter out of the way to make room. James smiled at her as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"You know I love you, right James?"

James looked surprised at that and concerned at the way her eyebrows were drawn together. He wrapped an arm protectively around her shoulders.

"Of course. You know I love you too?"

She nodded into his shoulder as she turned to bury her face into his robes, welcoming the comforting warmth of her brother and resting like that for some time, while James held onto her and carried on chatting to Remus and Peter. As her breathing evened out, James stroked her curls affectionately, glad that a little bit of their comfortable home life was bleeding through into Hogwarts.

"What's up with Kitten?"

James turned to see Sirius' concerned face and shook his head.

"She's just tired I think, don't you dare wake her."

"Wouldn't dream of it" came the response, Sirius' face softening at the sight of sister turning to brother for comfort.

"She's kind of awesome, you know, your sister" he said quietly to James. James looked smug, as though a compliment for Hermione was a compliment for himself.

"I know that. She's everything to me" he said honestly, looking down at her sleeping form, and tightening his arm around her.

"Wow, Potter" came Lily's astonished voice from across the common room. "You almost said something actually nice for a change."

And to make a further change, James didn't even rise to the challenge.

* * *

When Severus turned up to their library study session with Regulus Black sauntering behind him, Hermione tried her best to roll her shoulders back and remember her offer to Sirius to watch out for the boy. She couldn't make sense of the conversation she'd partially overheard with Sirius but knew the siblings hadn't spoken since.

Severus introduced his mentee to the two girls he hadn't yet been formally acquainted with. When Regulus turned to Lily, his lip had curled a little.

"Ah, the muggle-born? I do hear so much about you in our common room."

Lily had frowned at that and flushed, looking angrily at Severus. Severus was already glaring daggers at Regulus.

"Because she's top of our class, of course?" asked Marleen, a little icily.

Regulus tipped his head.

"Of course. It does so rankle some people."

He made no move to acknowledge whether he was counted among those people, instead pulling out a chair and busying himself with his books.

"Why exactly is that such a topic of interest, Severus?" demanded Lily.

Severus let out a deep sigh and turned to frown at Regulus with a look reading _thanks a lot, mate_. Regulus looked unconcerned at the ire he had attracted.

"Hermione's friend, _Evan_ , seems to find it highly concerning that Severus is consistently outperformed by someone from a muggle family" he said, narrowing his eyes at Hermione at the mention of Rosier. "Seems to think it might give you ideas above your station."

Lily gaped at that.

"Not that _he thinks_ are above my station?"

Regulus blinked.

"There's a natural order in the wizarding world" he explained calmly, as if talking to a small child. "Old wizarding families have better magic, purer magic, and so they run things. That's just how it's done."

It was Hermione's turn for her jaw to drop. Sirius had told her and James about his parents' leanings on blood purity on the train to Hogwarts, but he himself had never expressed such an opinion as this. Severus was studying the table in front of him carefully, but Lily wasn't about to let him avoid this.

"Isn't Evan Rosier the one you introduced us to, Severus? Your mentor? Your friend? Are you really friends with people who believe that my magic is _impure_?"

Severus flushed and avoided Lily's eyes.

"That's all just rubbish. The old families can be a little heavily based in tradition. But you're proving your worth" he said, dismissively, though not without nerves. Regulus turned to him in surprise.

"You sound as if you don't believe it, Severus."

Hermione stood abruptly, leaning over the table to invade Regulus' personal space. Her eyes flashed as she tried to reign in her anger and any accidental magic.

"That's enough" she hissed. "At this table, you can be an annoying arse like your brother, or you can be snippy and dismissive like Severus. You can be studious, or you can be mischievous. You can be stoic, or you can let us in, but _the one thing we will not tolerate is bigotry_. Do I make myself clear? There is _no room_ for blood prejudice at this table." She leaned back into her seat and regarded him.

"You are looking at two muggle-born witches across from you, both at the top of their class. I would consider your position on how our heritage affects our magic" she said with finality.

Regulus regarded the little witch across from him with narrowed eyes and waved a hand dismissively at her statement.

"You're not muggle-born in the eyes of my argument" he countered. "I'd point out I referred to magic, not blood. Your magic became pure the moment the Potters adopted you and took you into their own family magic. However, I concede your point. Merit alone to be considered at this table." He paused before returning to his books. "I can see why my brother likes you so much."

Hermione sneered at him, and then wondered if she'd accidentally picked this look up from Severus or his housemates.

"I see you've gone for snippy and dismissive" she quipped and pulled her parchment towards her to begin her essay, effectively ending the conversation.

She was unsurprised at the end of the session, when Lily took her oldest friend to task. While the others waited outside the library, Lily pulled Severus back to the table.

"Evan Rosier thinks I have a lower place in this world? And you're still going to be friends with him?"

Severus looked irritated at the return to the conversation.

"You're exaggerating, and really what's it to you what Evan Rosier thinks of you? You were perfectly happy to accept his Defence help last year, and he was perfectly happy to give it."

"You're deflecting, Severus. I can't believe you wouldn't stand up for me against those kinds of opinions."

"They're _harmless_ , Lily. Honestly! I just don't see what the big deal is."

"You seemed to think there was a pretty big deal with me being called a _mudblood_ last year! Who's to say it wasn't _Rosier_ who said it, it's clearly what he thinks!"

Severus scoffed and collected up his things, shoving his books harshly into his bag.

"You're reading far too much into this, Lils. I wouldn't be friends with someone who had a real problem with you, and you know that." He looked up finally to catch her gaze, eyes wide and pleading. He reached out for her hand. "You're my best friend."

Lily softened, still with a little frown creasing her brow.

"Why did he know so much about that body bind curse last year? We were supposed to be learning defence, not how to use it."

Severus' eyes darkened at this, and he began to turn away.

"Well it helped us, didn't it? What is the point in ruling some spells darker than others" he snapped. "It's just magic. The more you know, the better you can be."

* * *

When the girls returned to Gryffindor common room, Lily marched up to Sirius, her obvious fury distracting him as he placed a card down for exploding snap. The deck exploded without him moving his hand away, and he yelped in pain and surprise.

"Do you think I'm worth less because I'm muggle-born?" Lily demanded.

Sirius narrowed his eyes.

"Why on _earth_ would you think that? Have I ever given you reason to think that?" he countered, voice rising.

Hermione stepped up and wrapped her arm around Lily's shoulder, trying to reign the angry witch in.

"We just had a study session with your brother. Some of his views were a little surprising" she offered sadly.

Sirius' face reddened with anger.

"I thought I had done a better job of stamping that out from him" he hissed, rising and looking as if he was about to march from the common room in search of his misguided brother. Hermione quickly stepped in his way as Marlene took over comforting Lily.

"Sirius, calm down. We'll be OK, won't we Lily. He's just echoing what he's been told."

"What he's still being told in that damn House of his, no doubt" Sirius spat.

Hermione pressed her hands against Sirius' chest until he sat back down in his chair, but he continued to glower down at the smouldering pile of cards in front of him. She could see the deep disappointment in his eyes. Over his head, she looked to a frowning James and Remus for help.

"C'mon Sirius – Quidditch try-outs are this weekend. Let's go practice some manoeuvres." James tugged at his friend and slung an arm around his shoulder.

"James, it's nearly curfew" called Lily, and James turned to wink at her.

"Oh, you hear that Sirius? Flying and dodging Filch, even better."

Sirius seemed to instantly brighten.

* * *

 **A/N**

Sorry for the slight delay on this one. I moved house, and then I rewrote this chapter about 5 times.

I hope you like it, let me know. Regulus is going to be a very key character as we explore the first wizarding war. I think at this point he's a deeply confused boy, and definitely a flawed character.

Also, if anyone likes little treats, _ma bichette_ translates to _my doe_ \- fitting for a Potter, no?


	7. That Time Of The Month

**A/N**

Happy holidays! Slightly longer break between chapters than anticipated while I've been stuffing myself with Christmas goodies. Please accept this extra long chapter to last you into the New Year - hope 2019 treats all my lovely readers well.

Hope this chapter makes you as happy to read as it made me to write. Whilst teen and pre-teen hormones are certainly causing a bit of havoc, it's mostly fun and games.

* * *

 **Chapter 8: That Time Of The Month**

* * *

 **November 1972**

The portrait door swung open dramatically as a sodden Sirius and James trudged their way into the common room. Having both made the Gryffindor Quidditch team – James as a Chaser, and Sirius as a Beater – they spent hours on the pitch, unofficially helping Sirius redirect his frustration over his brother. Quidditch captain Hamish Frater was delighted with his new team picks, loudly commending them on their dedication in front of other team members, hoping to drum up similar support elsewhere.

Hermione watched with some worry as the two boys flopped with exhaustion onto the chairs in front of the fire, caked in mud. The weather heading into November was dire, even for Scotland, and the wind and rain were howling against the windows of the tower. Despite what had clearly been hours of supposedly cathartic hard work, Sirius' mouth was still downturned with the dejected misery that had plagued him since his confrontation with Regulus. Deciding enough was enough, she stood, jerking her head at Remus when he caught her eye. When the two were tucked away in the staircase leading to the boys' common room, she laid out her plans.

"How soon did you boys find the entrance to the kitchen after joining this school?"

Remus gaped a little at her question, briefly considering whether to answer. Hermione scoffed.

"Come on now, I'm not likely to dob my own brother in, am I?"

"No, fair…I reckon it took us a month, maximum. Have you seen the amount Sirius eats? Guy's got one hell of a growth spurt coming his way, up or out."

Hermione laughed softly at that. Sirius could certainly pack away food at meal times, she'd had no doubt he was sneaking into the kitchen to sweet talk food from the House-elves between meals as well.

"Right well, can you show me where it is? I'm thinking we need to cheer him up for his birthday."

Remus listened to her plan with interest and agreed to help. It was clear his friend was hurting badly from his separation from his brother. And, whilst Sirius wasn't particularly open to talking about his problems, he had confessed to the boys that Regulus' hostility was apparently a product of parental interference laced with more than a little fear. James had written this aspect off, boldly stating that Regulus should be brave, and hang the consequences. Remus strongly suspected there was more at play than any of the other boys could fully understand or empathise with.

* * *

When the 3rd of November came around, a single owl arrived for Sirius at the breakfast table. Opening the package attached, Sirius' face broke out into the first smile their Gryffindor group had seen in a few weeks.

"It's from my cousin Andromeda. Always was my favourite."

Andromeda had sent Sirius a small package of items from Zonko's joke shop. Hermione groaned. Sirius read the little note that came with the package aloud.

"Heard you were feeling a little out of sorts, hopefully these will get you back to your old self. Raise hell."

Sirius seemed caught between a grin and a frown.

"I wonder who's been speaking to her about me."

They distracted the dark-haired boy from his musings and lack of letter from his parents by piling presents onto his breakfast place, and Sirius' mood brightened a little more at receiving gifts not only from all the boys, but also from Hermione, Marlene, and Lily too. He wrapped the leather bracelet from Hermione around his wrist instantly.

"We match now kitten, a bracelet for a bracelet. Anyone would think we're courting."

"Oi" interjected James loudly. "I don't remember anyone asking my permission. And I'm not giving it." He folded his arms stubbornly, as Hermione rolled her eyes and shoved Sirius in the shoulder playfully.

"Anyway" cut across Remus, dragging out the first syllable. "We have a little surprise planned for you later. Maybe don't totally stuff yourself at dinner today, yeah?"

"No idea what you mean, Remus. I'm a bottomless pit, as James' mum told me over the summer."

"At this rate, Sirius, you might as well start calling her 'mum' too. I'm sure she sees you more than your own mother does" Hermione said, laughing at how James' eyes lit up at the suggestion.

"An excellent idea Kitten. Wow, what a birthday, a girlfriend and a new mum, what more could I want." James cut him off with an abrupt punch to the arm.

* * *

In the evening, a few hours before curfew, much to James' disappointment, the group headed down to the kitchens, Hermione excitedly pulling Sirius along.

"You Potters do have a penchant for dragging people places" Sirius barked with a laugh.

Hermione ignored him, too excited for him to see the surprise she and Remus had been building for the past two days. She had gathered James' "merry band of ruffians"; convinced Lily to call a truce with James for the day provided he didn't say anything derogatory about Severus; and Marlene had joined in more than willingly. Moving past the entrance hall, she led the way down the familiar staircase and then drew them up short in front of a large painting of a fruit bowl.

"Kitten, you do realise I've known this is where the kitchens are since first year."

"I can attest to that" came a voice with a melodic Scottish lilt. "No idea how this one is maintaining those cheekbones with the amount he's down here."

Hermione turned to see a tall boy with messy bronze hair and Hufflepuff robes standing behind them grinning.

"Adie! How are you?"

She let go of Sirius' wrist momentarily to step forward and give the boy a warm hug. Her brother and his friends gaped at the familiarity, but neither Lily nor Marlene looked surprised.

"Who's this?" Sirius asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes at the easy way with which the boy was resting his arms around Hermione's waist.

"Oh! This is Adie Macmillan, we work together in the library sometimes." Hermione gestured between Adie and the other girls, before turning to her friend and introducing him to the other Gryffindors. "This is my brother, James, and his friends, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew."

Adie reached forward at the introductions, shaking each boys' hand with easy familiarity. The Gryffindor trouble makers accepted the friendly gesture, although James and Sirius appeared to do so begrudgingly.

"Anyway Adie, as nice as it is to see you, it's Sirius' birthday and we're treating him to a surprise."

She waved the Hufflepuff off with a smile, and a promise from herself, Lily, and Marlene that they'd see him in the library the next day to work on a Charms essay they had all been set. Adie gave a goodbye crossed between a salute and a wave to the other boys and sauntered further down the corridor in the direction of the Hufflepuff common rooms.

"Anyway." Hermione stepped forwards, again taking Sirius' wrist as she tickled the pear in the fruit bowl portrait. Sirius gaped at her, seeming like he wanted to question the interaction he'd just witnessed. He caught Marlene's eye over the top of Hermione's head, and the blonde shook her head at him, rolling her eyes.

As they entered the kitchen, Sirius was greeted by a great squeal from inside the room. A small elf came barrelling out of the crowd and wrapped around his knees.

"Happy birthday Mister Sirius!"

" _Hooky?_ "

The little elf beamed up at Sirius, and at his little Master and Mistress stood behind him.

"Missy Hermione has been asking Hooky for help for Mister Sirius' birthday!" the elf squeaked excitedly. "Hooky has been asking around, the elves has been telling me Mister Sirius is a nice boy, very good boy to them." He looked speculatively at Sirius as he emphasised _to them_ and Hermione snorted. No one could accuse Sirius of being a "good boy".

The beloved Potter house-elf took hold of the fabric of Sirius' trousers around his knees and tugged the speechless boy forward. The elves had prepared a three-tiered birthday cake, iced in Gryffindor red and gold, with a tiny iced lion on top that was stretching out his paws and roaring at their approach.

"The elves is happy to help out for Mister Sirius, we's made you a birthday tea."

Sirius recovered from his shock to grin down at the little elf, kneeling and wrapping Hooky in a tight hug.

"Wow, Hooky, all of you" he turned his grin to the gathering of little elves clustered around the cake, some carrying platters of sandwiches and treats. "This is amazing, thank you!"

Remus cleared his throat. "It's just for you and us, Sirius. Let's forget the world and have party."

Sirius grinned up at Remus, standing and wrapping his friend in a tight hug, and then turning and doing the same to the rest of them. Hermione beamed at him, and he pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"Thanks, Kitten. This is just what I needed" he whispered into her ear, as they watched the others eagerly tuck into the food the elves had provided, each having a glass of pumpkin juice pressed into their hands. Hermione nodded at him and pulled him into the fray to blow out his birthday candles.

"Make a wish!"

* * *

 **January 1973**

The start of the new school term after Christmas found Hermione marching into the library, scrunching her forehead as she felt the beginnings of a tension headache. She was sure her study sessions with Severus and Regulus Black were prematurely aging her.

Regulus seemed to delight in pushing Hermione's buttons, determined to debate their opposing views on the societal hierarchy in the wizarding world, and the impact of muggle-borns on the purity of magic. They kept their debates academic, focusing on researched theories and texts, and veering from overt propaganda or emotional reactions. It was difficult on both sides; Hermione was passionate about both her background, and the fair treatment of all individuals; Regulus had grown up in an entirely different pureblood household to her own and was coming from years of differing traditions. Where Sirius had rebelled against the words of the Black parents, it was clear Regulus had taken many views onboard, albeit only those he had critically evaluated in as much as he could do at eleven.

Hermione had finally snapped that morning. Regulus' insistence on bringing up the topic had alienated Lily, who increasingly preferred to sit with Adie to study. Marlene flitted between the two tables when she came to the library at all.

"I know what you're doing, Hermione" Marlene had said. "You think you can be his lifeboat out of that way of thinking. I don't blame you, but don't let him bring you down trying to save him."

It was a little dramatic, Hermione thought. Regulus' way of thinking was outdated, and lacking in fundamental evidential basis, but it wasn't like anyone was actually using these ways of thinking to harm people. And he never used terms such as _mudblood_ , something she wasn't sure she could forgive him for should it ever cross his lips.

However, the previous study session, Severus had invited Evan Rosier along to help with some Defence homework. Evan had side-tracked the session a little, teaching the trio the leg-locker curse and lightly skipping over the counter-curse. When Regulus had tried to engage her in one of their usual debates on magical purity and wizarding society, Evan had narrowed his eyes in interest. Hermione had felt distinctly uncomfortable, unable to forget Evan's insult to Sirius the previous term. Worse still, Regulus seemed to be playing up his side of the argument more than usual after noticing Evan's interest, taking on a sneering tone when addressing her counter-points.

Hermione had come to the end of her tether. Marching up to Regulus in the library, she dropped the papers in her hands with a resounding _thwack_.

Regulus looked up in surprise as a veritable brick of loose papers, haphazardly stacked, landed in front of him on the table, burying his Defence essay from view. He looked up to see a frazzled looking Hermione stood over him, hair sticking out at all angles, looking like she hadn't slept.

" _There_!" she hissed, on the edge of tears. "That's every bit of evidence I can find, every bit of research in the damned walls of this library, showing there is _no correlation_ between muggle-born heritage and weaker magical skill."

She flopped down into the chair opposite Severus and Regulus, and leaned on her elbows, pressing her fingers into her temples and staring at a knot in the oak table.

"I'll take it under consideration" Regulus said slowly, gathering up the papers and opening his satchel wide to fit them in. Hermione snorted derisively.

" _Take it under consideration?_ " she repeated, face twisted in anger. "Tell me Regulus, why do you bother studying with me, hanging out with me even, if you consider me inferior to yourself."

He stared at her in horror.

"I don't consider you inferior" he protested.

Hermione's lip curled into a sneer.

"Would you invite me over to spend Christmas at your house, meet your mother? That's the sort of things friends do, isn't it? Tell me Regulus, am I pure enough to be your friend?"

Regulus shifted uncomfortably, gritting his teeth and staring down at his essay with unseeing eyes. Finally, he sighed and looked up at her.

"You are my friend. You are one of the people I respect most."

Hermione hesitated at that, noting he hadn't qualified his second statement. She raised an eyebrow at him to continue, face still looking dangerous.

"I enjoy it" he said reluctantly. "I enjoy our debates. No one has ever given me the time or space to debate these views critically before. My parents are singular in their instance that muggle-borns are _scum_ and that anyone who doesn't agree is a _blood traitor_ " he paused with a wince at that, before taking a deep breath and forging on. "My brother…my brother is the other way, he's so insistent that mother and father are wrong that he won't hear anything that he thinks sounds anything like a parroting of their views."

Hermione's shoulders sagged a little as he spoke. She could understand the need for debate, to truly feel like you had considered each side before you came to a conclusion. She hadn't needed to take that approach because she had never been truly exposed to the other argument before, and she had been raised with such a fundamental belief in being _fair_ and valuing people unless they specifically gave you reason not to. Judging an entire populace based on something they couldn't control violated everything she believed in. She had too much of Euphemia's bleeding heart, not enough of James' competitive spirit.

"And" Regulus continued, quieter now. "You're my only link to him."

She looked up sharply at that, but Regulus was steadfastly avoiding her gaze, boring holes into his parchment with his eyes. His cheeks and ears were pink, although his face showed no hint of emotion. She almost laughed at how different they were, her own face contorted with emotion that even seemed to bleed into her wild hair.

"I'm not allowed to speak to him. Not even at home. It's the only way to keep him safe, keep us both safe. And he's too reckless and single-minded, he won't listen to me or my views. So, you're it, my only little bit of connection."

Severus, who until this point had been trying to avoid the conversation, not willing to get dragged into another debate on the topic lest it get back to Lily, curled his lips into a sneer.

"Your brother is nothing but a bully. We can all thank the stars that his connection to Hermione barely extends beyond House membership."

Hermione frowned at that.

"Sirius Black is one of my best friends, Severus. I tolerate your dislike for him because I disapprove of the way he treats you and your other House members, but don't mistake that for me not being his friend."

Severus levelled her with a glare.

"One of these days, Hermione, you're going to be forced to take a side. Are you really telling me you would side with those brash idiots, who react without ever taking the time to critically evaluate? I had greater faith in you than that."

He sniffed and looked back to his book as Hermione bristled.

"They're my friends, and one of those 'brash idiots' as you so kindly said, is my brother. Don't ask me to choose between you and my brother, Severus Snape. There's only ever one outcome in that choice."

For all that James frustrated her, her love for her brother was unwavering. He was brash, yes, but he was brave. He could be cruel, which she lamented, but he loved fiercely. He was divisive, but he was passionate. And she was looking across the table at the evidence of what happened when you weren't allowed to love your brother for all their faults. Regulus was staring down at his work miserably, pulling the feathers from his quill. She reached across the table to touch his hand.

"I'm looking out for him, and I'm looking out for you. But I'm struggling, Regulus. I'm trying to tell Sirius and James that not all Slytherin's are prejudiced blood purists. I'm trying to tell Sirius that you aren't. I feel like you're protecting him, but at the same time it hurts when you believe the other side of the argument. I don't want to write off those who haven't proved themselves to be against muggle-borns, purely based on House membership, but I can't turn a blind eye to contrary evidence, either."

Regulus smiled sadly at her.

"It's a difficult time to be a Slytherin, but I'm not against muggle-borns. Even before we started this, I never said I was. I might believe in the idea of a pure magic, and the importance of preserving wizarding culture and values, but that doesn't mean I think we should become exclusive. I don't think you can love a brother like mine and believe that going against this makes you a _blood traitor_ , but I do think you can lament the idea of someone turning their backs on their culture." He shrugged. "I'll read your research, I like your research. And I hope you'll be open to me discussing it with you afterwards."

She sat back heavily in her chair and nodded at that. She could see the truth of the matter, after all. No one else was going to discuss this topic in such a thorough way with him, and she couldn't see a way for her friend to reconcile with his brother without a change of heart of both sides. And, now that Regulus had confirmed his interest was more academic than radical, she could appreciate the value of the intellectual debate. She smiled at him.

"OK, we can discuss. You know, the topic can make me uncomfortable, but there's no progress without making people uncomfortable. And you're right, imagining trying to have this kind of debate with Sirius makes me want to sew my own mouth shut."

Regulus grinned at that, and Hermione reached into her bag to pull out her homework and her quill, settling back into their usual studying routine.

* * *

Whilst her fractious relationship with her two Slytherin friends was one reason for her headache, more pressing to her was her worry about Remus. Her friend was once against in the hospital wing with some unknown illness. Between that and his worry about his aunt, Remus was rapidly losing weight, and was developing dark circles underneath his eyes.

On top of her worry about her friend, when Remus was absent the other boys seemed to get a little out of hand. That her brother and his friends loved playing pranks was a given by this point – no House had managed to escape being a victim. However, without Remus' quiet preference for academic application, their pranks lacked finesse and sometimes rapidly devolved.

Her first clue that something was up should have been that James, Peter, and Sirius were all at the breakfast table. No one was out flying or seeing how late they could sleep in and still make it to class without detention.

The second should have been that they were all sniggering behind their hands.

Suddenly, the Great Hall erupted a loud _BURRRRPP_ and the boys dissolved into gales of laughter. Great belches came from every table, and Hermione felt her own bubbling up in her chest before erupting with such volume and force that it shocked even herself, and she thought Sirius might wet himself from laughing so hard.

" _Kitten!_ How rude! Did that come from your toes?" he gasped between his laughter.

"Guys" interrupted Peter. "What food did we lace again?" He was chewing on a mouthful of pancakes, eyes full of concern.

"Peter, you idiot!" exclaimed James, and then threw is head back in laughter as a great belch erupted from his small friend's mouth.

The other Houses were glaring at the three boys until slowly giggles started tinkling out across the Hall, mingling with the loud belches that were still trumpeting. Most of the other Houses started to see the funny side, egged on when tiny Professor Flitwick let out an alarmingly loud burp of his own, and was startled into falling off his chair. She couldn't help but notice that those on the Slytherin table were still looking over with absolute loathing etched across their faces.

"Belching powder, really boys?" sighed Hermione, hand over her mouth in an attempt to stifle any further outbursts. "I'll be grateful for the small mercy that this wasn't just directed at Slytherin, but honestly, without Remus here, you just lack class."

* * *

Nothing made Hermione miss Remus more than when she struggled with their latest task in Transfiguration. Remus was a font of knowledge, and more than happy to help her out when she needed. She stared a little dejectedly at the unintentionally uniform buttons she had transfigured out of beetles and sneaked surreptitiously jealous looks at the array of colours and sizes that Sirius had managed to produce. Sirius had been a bit off with her recently, but she resolved to ask for help anyway. After all, he was her friend.

As the class packed up, she caught hold of Sirius' sleeve.

"Could you…would you help me, with the current assignment?" She looked up at him with large, pleading hazel eyes.

Sirius smiled down at her, and then put his hand to his chest in mock shock.

"Me? Why ever would you want _my_ help, Kitten? Am I your last choice after all your other study buddies?" He pouted dramatically, but his eyes twinkled with mirth. Hermione rolled her eyes at him, and then wondered how many times she could do that before they rolled right out of her head. She thought she might be getting eye strain.

"Come off it, Sirius. You're really good at Transfiguration, and I'm just not getting the hand of it." She followed her sentence up with a real pout, and Sirius grinned at the way her whole demeanour looked as if the little witch wanted to stamp her foot in a temper tantrum.

"Sure thing Kitten, if only because flattery will get you _everywhere_ " he teased. "How about the Transfiguration classroom after dinner tomorrow? I'll ask Minnie."

Hermione choked.

"Is she actually letting her call you that?"

Sirius waved her off as if the protest was inconsequential.

"Minnie loves me, and I'm inoculating her to the idea. Helps that I'm her best student."

He winked at Hermione, and strode up to Professor McGonagall, who promptly turned an unflattering shade of puce. Hermione assumed she was less than fond of the new nickname.

The following evening found Sirius with an array of beetles in a glass jar, complete with some leaves and a stick because he insisted ' _just because we're transfiguring them, doesn't mean we shouldn't be decent about it_ '. Hermione teased him by pointing out he might be nicer to beetles than he was to Slytherins. Sirius dropped his eyes at that and scuffed the toe of his shoe along the floor.

"I'm a little jealous, you know, of how he'll speak to you."

She didn't need to ask him who he was talking about.

"If it helps, he misses you too."

Sirius continued to stare at the floor before visibly counting to five and clearing his throat.

"Right Kitten, now you've got a dragon heartstring wand, so honestly I'm a little surprised that Transfiguration isn't going better for you."

Hermione blinked, a little more surprised that Sirius had paid attention to some wand lore.

"I think the problem is your wand movement. You're trying too hard with the steps, it needs to be a little more fluid. Just because you need to go up, left, down, doesn't mean you need to articulate all of those steps."

Hermione watched with awe at the smooth movement of Sirius' wand, and felt herself going a little slack jawed at Sirius taking the whole tutoring exercise seriously. His face was set with determination, no sign of his usual perma-grin. She cleared her throat and shook her head a little as he looked at her expectantly.

"Right, yes. Up, left, down."

She attempted to follow his movement, but the waving of her wand still came out a little staccato. Sirius moved behind her and reached forward to grip her wrist.

"Come on Kitten, shake this out a bit. You're too rigid, you're thinking too hard. Try to feel it a little more."

After an hour, and several more attempts, Hermione was finally starting to loosen up. Whilst her buttons weren't quite as varied as Sirius', she had managed a few different colours and sizes, and she beamed at him triumphantly. Sirius looked down at with pride.

"Thank you, Sirius!" she exclaimed, standing up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek. "I'll reluctantly admit to being a bit envious of you being better at this than me" she admitted, acknowledging that if she didn't say it out loud she'd only go into denial and get snappy instead, something Lily was prone to doing.

She gathered up her things and was heading to the door, missing the blush that had graced Sirius' cheeks after her enthusiastic thanks.

"Are you coming? We should get back to the tower, must be nearly curfew."

"Right, yes. Coming Kitten. Well done, by the way, you're really getting the hang of it now."

* * *

 **March 1973**

Hermione and Lily leaned over their Potions desk, chatting to Severus before Slughorn called the class to order. Hermione needed to bail on their usual study session in the library as it was James' birthday, and she had a surprise planned. Lily was dithering between bailing too, despite considering James an _'annoying little toerag'_ , or accompanying Severus to their usual table.

"I haven't seen you properly in a while, Lily" Severus complained, his eyebrows drawn together as he looked hurt.

"I know" Lily shifted uncomfortably and shot Hermione a look. "It's just…it's just Regulus makes me uncomfortable. Your House members are making me a little uncomfortable in general."

Severus' shoulders sagged, but his face hardened.

"I've told you time and time again, I wouldn't associate with anyone who truly held bad opinions about you, Lily. I can't help it if a lot of the old families are in my House, and I certainly can't blame them for how they were raised."

Severus was becoming increasingly stubborn about his Slytherin friends. It hadn't escaped the girls' notice that Severus seemed to have few friends in his own year, instead associating with either Regulus or Evan, in the year below and above, respectively. It was clear he admired both, Evan for his exploration of all kinds of magic, and Regulus for his prestigious background and aristocratic poise. He missed Lily a great deal when they argued though and hated that these spats had caused a divide.

"Please Lily, I'll ask Regulus not to come. It will be just you and me, like old times."

Lily smiled softly at him and nodded her head in agreement.

"I'd really like that, Severus, thank you."

"Hey Evans!" came a voice from behind them at that moment. "You coming to my birthday party?"

James had strolled into the classroom, followed leisurely by Sirius. Hermione felt her shoulders tense. Relations between James Potter the Slytherins had taken a nose dive after Sirius' encounter with Evan Rosier. Whilst Sirius was unwilling to divulge the full nature of the interaction, he had taken up a vicious dislike of all members of Slytherin House, up to and including his own brother, who he felt hand abandoned him since his sorting. James stood by his friend unwaveringly, and no one took more of the brunt of this renewed sense of rivalry than Severus.

"I'm afraid not" said Lily, dismissively. "Severus and I have plans that evening."

Hermione saw James' face drop minutely, and his eyes narrowed at Severus. It didn't help that Severus was looking at James with a smug expression plastered across his face. James turned to Lily.

"What do you want to hang out with that greasy git for? It'll be much more fun with us."

Hermione groaned as Lily's face blackened.

"Why do you insist on being so rude, James Potter! It's like you haven't got a polite bone in your body, you…you… _knobhead_!"

Hermione and Sirius both gaped at Lily, mouths opening and shutting like fish out of water. James snapped back as if he'd be slapped.

" _Knobhead_?" he spluttered and turned to Sirius with his eyebrows raised.

"Well…she was raised in Cokeworth I guess" shrugged Sirius, looking at Lily with something akin to admiration.

Severus snickered behind his hand, and James' face pulled into an instant frown. Reaching into his robes, James pulled out his wand and pointed it at Severus.

"See how funny you find this – _titillando_!"

Severus instantly doubled over laughing, clutching at his sides, completely incapacitated by a sudden giggling fit brought on by the tickling hex.

"James Potter! You removed that hex immediately!" Lily screeched at James, moving to her friends' side as Severus twitched against the attack. "I wouldn't come to your birthday if you were the last Gryffindor on earth!"

James frowned and jabbed his wand, doubling the hex vindictively as Sirius laughed, before muttering the counter spell. Severus sagged forwards, clutching his sides and trying to get his breath back under control.

"What were you thinking?" Hermione hissed at him, seething. "Severus did absolutely nothing to you! And you!" She rounded on Sirius, who flinched backwards. "Why were you encouraging him? Sometimes you two make me sick!"

James looked at his little sister, fighting the feeling of shame crawling up his throat like he wanted to be sick, and instead choosing to resolutely stick to his ground. Hermione looked livid, her hair practically standing on end as surveyed the two with a severe look on her face. James tipped his chin in defiance.

"He laughed, he was disrespectful. He's a snake, he hates us, and he loves when things go wrong for us. What, are you going to miss my birthday to hang out with him too?"

Hermione glared at him and her look turned positively dangerous.

"No, I'm bloody well not you idiot. I've actually got a surprise planned for you! Lily is right, you really can be an absolute _knobhead_." She spun furiously away from them to face the front of the class as Slughorn arrived. Sirius was gaping at her back. Turning to his friend, he muttered "you know, I don't think I've ever heard your sister swear before…" he trailed off at that point and shuffled a little in his seat.

James sighed.

"I'm going to have to apologise to them both before Hermione will give me my surprise, aren't I."

* * *

A few days and no small amount of grovelling later, not helped by the fact the boys had already set another prank in motion before they had set off for the ill-fated Potions class, Hermione was leading a trail of blindfolded boys down a deserted corridor by gripping onto James' hand. Their blindfolds had them slightly stumbling one after the other, and they held wrists as though they were travelling elephants, with Peter the littlest bringing up the rear. James had been delighted that Remus was out of the Hospital Wing and well enough to join them.

"Hermione" James whinged. "Please tell me that this isn't some sort of prank. We're really sorry for setting mice in the dormitories. And anyway, Tiberius ate them. And it _is_ my birthday."

His grumbling carried them forwards to their destination, as Hermione laughed along and rolled her eyes. As if any of the girls of Gryffindor tower would fear mice anyway, Marlene had been more annoyed they had nibbled her favourite running joggers.

"We're here, you can let go now."

She wondered along the row, tapping the cloth around each boys' eyes with her wand and allowing them to free themselves. James frowned in confusion at the sight in front of him.

"Hermione, lovely as this statue is, why in Merlin's name are you show it to us."

His voice was laced with sarcasm. The statue in front of them was of a decidedly ugly one-eyed witch, hunched over due to a large hump on her back. Hermione's grin widened.

"Oh good, I was hoping you didn't know about this one. I know what you boys are like."

She drew out her wand, and tapped the hump of the witch, whispering _Dissendium._ Instantly, the hump of the witch swung forward, as if on an invisible hinge, and revealed a large opening behind the statue.

" _Fucking hell!"_ exclaimed Sirius.

James rushed forward to examine the passageway.

"Where does it go? Hold on, what's that bag there?"

Hermione jumped into the passageway and passed up a bag that she had placed at the entrance to the tunnel. James grabbed it, and then reached for her hand to pull her back out and into the corridor.

"Honeydukes chocolate!" Hermione could see Remus' eyes light up, and almost laughed as he licked his lips like he was salivating.

"Naturally" she winked at him. "This passage leads to Hogsmeade, to the cellar of Honeydukes actually. I might have prepped earlier with a quick reconnaissance mission."

She flushed as the boys gaped at her.

"So not only did you find out about this passageway, but you also ventured out of bounds by yourself to get me birthday chocolate?" Her brother sounded like he was torn somewhere between wildly impressed and incredibly concerned. "That sounds…"

" _Bloody brilliant!_ " insisted Sirius, a look of wonder on his face as he looked at her. She flushed further and shrugged her shoulders.

"Hold on" said Remus, narrowing his eyes slightly. "How exactly did you know about this passageway anyway?"

She hesitated slightly before replying and tried to cover it up quickly with a lie.

"Marlene's dad told her about it, apparently something he used when his parents refused to sign his permission slip to Hogsmeade as punishment for deliberately blowing up a cauldron in Potions one year."

Remus narrowed his eyes at her hesitation, but nodded, glancing nervously at James and evidently deciding not to ruin the boy's birthday with suspicion.

"You know, we should start putting these passageways and passwords on a map" he said thoughtfully, and James clapped him on the back.

"Great idea, Remus old boy! Always knew you were the brains behind this operation" he said with a wide grin.

"So, good present?"

Hermione looked hopefully up at her brother and was relieved to see him turn his grin towards her.

" _Excellent_ present, lil sis" he teased, but pulled her into a heartfelt hug. "You know me so well."

* * *

 **April 1973**

Hermione frowned as she prodded the pancakes on her plate. Remus was absent from breakfast again and hadn't made it to the boys' dormitories last night. She just couldn't shake the feeling that something was just _off_. It was gnawing away at her.

First, there was worry for her friend. Remus clearly was ill, his entire body seemed to be screaming out the stress it was under. She had noticed him wincing as he moved after he got out of the Hospital Wing last month. Whilst she was used to James and Sirius receiving hexes in the corridors from passing Slytherins, Remus usually stayed out of it, but she couldn't understand why else he would have injuries that he wouldn't ask Madam Pomfrey to completely heal. Unless there was something going on that Pomfrey _couldn't_ completely heal, and that seemed even more far-fetched.

Worse than this was the alarming regularity with which Remus was disappearing. Between his own illness and that of his aunt, it was at least a few days every month, like clockwork.

 _Like clockwork_.

She shuffled the now mushed pancake around her plate with unseeing eyes as she thought.

' _How is it that Remus knows he's going to be ill_ ' she suddenly thought. It occurred to her that Remus always came pre-prepared with a reasoning for his absence. But how could someone know that a cold was going to strike them down that Saturday? Suddenly she cursed herself. Remus was clearly lying, and, worse still, he wasn't even _good_ at it. She felt her insides curdle with shame at not having noticed sooner.

Standing up determinedly, she decided to act. Without waiting for the boys to join her at the table she hurried away in the direction of the Hospital Wing. If Remus was ill, and that part of the cover was true at least, then that's where he should be.

She pushed the door to the Hospital Wing open carefully and was relieved to see Madam Pomfrey was occupied with a 1st year who appeared to be sprouting radishes out of their ears. At the other end of the Wing a series of curtains were erected around a bed.

Hermione moved as quickly and as carefully as she could to the other side of the Wing, before holding her breath and slipping through the curtains. She flushed briefly with guilt at the invasion of privacy, before deciding that finding out if her friend was OK was far more important in the grand scheme of things. As she turned towards the bed, she let out a horrified gasp.

Remus was lying on the hospital bed, fast asleep. The covers were pulled back from his frame, and he wasn't wearing a top. But it was the state of his torso that had struck her. Deep gashes criss-crossed across his chest, and she stepped forwards involuntarily, hand reaching out towards her prone friend. As she got closer, she could see an area that appeared to have a small chunk of flesh missing, and she could distinctly see… _bite marks_.

She felt as though a cold bucket of water had been thrown over her, a shiver violently shooting down her spine. Absent once a month, clear signs of fatigue, the state his parents had been in. And suddenly she remembered Mr Lupin's job in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. _Remus was a werewolf_.

An anguished noise made its way out of her throat, and Remus bolted upright, green eyes suddenly open and locked with her own. The sudden look of horror and shame that flitted across his face broke her heart.

"Hermione, what are you doing here?" his voice came out gravely, as if strained from screaming. The knife that felt like it was lodged in her gut twisted. Remus seemed to deflate at her silence, and he looked down. "I…I understand. It's OK. I'm a…"

"A werewolf" she whispered, and he flinched.

"I understand" he said again. "It's OK if you can't be my friend, I never should have come…"

"I am _so sorry_ " she said, and his eyes snapped to hers again, brow furrowing in confusion.

"What on _earth_ are _you_ sorry for?"

"I am so sorry I didn't notice sooner. Merlin, your lies were _terrible_. I could have been here, I could have been helping."

Remus' face twisted at that.

" _Helping?_ There's nothing you can do for me, Hermione. I'm a _monster_." He spat the words like a bad taste from his mouth. "No one will accept me, no one will want me, I'm putting you all at risk."

She recoiled at the rehearsed pattern of his speech, the unfamiliar cadence making it clear he was repeating words he had been told again and again. She walked towards him quickly, ignoring his attempts to recoil from her, and reached out to run her fingers through his hair, and rest her palm against his cheek. He closed his eyes, pausing for a beat before leaning gently into her palm. She felt his tears running against her skin.

"You're not a monster" she insisted, tutting when he made a noise of disbelief. "You're not a monster, and you're not putting us as risk. I refuse to believe Albus would allow you here without the necessary precautions. You're my friend first, and you happen to be a werewolf."

Remus kept his eyes closed, as if he was scared to open them only to find out she was just a very persistent hallucination.

"Do you…should I keep this secret from the boys?" she asked quietly. Remus groaned, and looked at her with pleading eyes.

"They'll hate me. They're…I've never had friends before. I never thought I'd have friends as good as that. They'll never speak to me again."

Hermione growled at that, and Remus' eyes opened in shock.

"Erm, I'm pretty sure I'm the one who's meant to growl" he teased, and suddenly the tension was broken, and his eyes seemed to swim with an overwhelming amount of relief. Hermione pulled him into as much of a hug as she could without opening his healing wounds.

"You should tell them, Remus. They trust you. If anything, James will be more concerned that you've kept a secret than he will be about you being a werewolf." She fought the ever-present need to raise her eyes skyward at her brother's illogical behaviour. Remus laughed softly into her shoulder.

"You know, I can believe that" he said, but his voice was tight with concern.

* * *

Remus asked the other boys from his dormitory to meet him and Hermione behind the statue of the one-eyed witch that evening. When Hermione arrived, Remus was already stood, sweating profusely, in front of the others who were looking at him with concern. Remus looked to Hermione with wide, frightened eyes, and Hermione gave him a small smile and nodded her head.

"Right" Remus cleared his throat, and turned to focus his attention on James, seeming to draw some strength from looking at the closest link to Hermione amongst his friends. "So, the thing is…well…uhm. I've bought a book."

He thrust the book out towards James, whose face was now twisting with the utmost confusion. Hermione craned her neck to see the title, reading _Lupine Lawlessness: Why Lycanthropes Don't Deserve to Live_. She gave an exasperated sigh. Pushing her way through the group of boys, she batted the book out of Remus' hands and onto the floor.

" _First_ of all," she whipped out her wand and pointed it at the book, muttering " _incendio_!"

All four boys gaped at her.

"Hermione!" Remus gasped, scandalised. "That was a _library_ book!"

Hermione winced briefly, before straightening her spine resolutely.

"Well it was a pile of prejudiced crap" she sniffed, flicking her wand to briefly increase the intensity of the blaze. "And second, Remus is a werewolf. He isn't a monster, and you aren't going to freak out. Right?"

She looked at her brother, Sirius, and Peter in front of her, clear challenge in her eyes. James frowned.

"My best mate is a werewolf?"

"This is unacceptable!" Sirius burst out, looking outraged. Remus' shoulders sagged in defeat and he opened his mouth to apologise before Sirius continued. "I thought I was your best mate, James!"

James punched Sirius in the shoulder.

"Yeah well, you might have been, but Remus is a werewolf so I'm pretty sure that bumps him up the pecking order in our little pack" he snorted.

It was Remus' turn to gape in surprise.

"You aren't mad at me?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that" said James. "I'm bloody furious it's taken you nearly two years to tell us." Hermione shot Remus a look that plainly said _I told you so_.

"How did Professor Dumbledore let you into the school?" squeaked Peter. Hermione's stare turned to the smaller boy and took on a withering quality.

"I mean" Peter hastily amended. "Where have you been going to transform? Must be awful." He flushed under Hermione's suspicious gaze.

"There's a shack in Hogsmeade, the new Whomping Willow is placed over the tunnel entrance. Madam Pomfrey takes me down once a month." Remus shuffled uncomfortably, but his face was starting to flush with hope. Sirius groaned.

"OK, I have so many things to say about this. First, _how did we not notice_? You must be categorically the worst liar ever, and I'm just now starting to realise we are the worst friends for not noticing. Sorry, Remus." Hermione smiled in agreement, and Remus' flush deepened at his friends' reactions. "Next, we really need to make that map, there are so many passageways we need to record. And lastly, sorry about this one James, but _Merlin_ I think I might just be a little bit in love with your sister now."

His eyes glittered as they focussed on the still smouldering remains of the library book on the floor, and it was Hermione's turn for pink cheeks. James punched Sirius in the arm for the second time in their small exchange. Remus piped up then in a small voice.

"You really don't mind? You don't think I'm a monster? You…you still want to be my friends?"

James threw his arm around Remus' shoulder, and rubbed his knuckles playfully into his friends' ruffled locks.

"'Course we don't care, you idiot! This is so damn cool." Hermione tutted at James' flippant assessment of the situation but appreciated his easy acceptance of their friend.

"Absolutely" agreed Sirius, grinning at Remus. The group turned towards Peter, who seemed to cower under their questioning gaze.

"Absolutely fine, Remus. Of course, you're not a monster" he squeaked.

Remus let out a deep sigh of relief, and wrapped his arm back around James, returning the embrace. It wasn't until his shoulders began to shake with what were clearly sobs that the other boys moved forward, both Sirius and Peter throwing their arms around the stricken werewolf, Peter appearing to briefly take a deep breath before rolling his shoulders back in determination.

After a few minutes, Remus pulled back and roughly wiped his cheeks.

"Right, OK then. Thanks guys."

The boys all nodded, and the moment passed, all silently agreeing not to bring it up again.

* * *

By the time to group was heading back up to Gryffindor tower, it was just past curfew. For a one-time offender like Hermione, this might have been an excusable offence, but when they rounded the next corner and ploughed straight into Professor McGonagall, Hermione could tell from the soft swear behind her that this wasn't going to be so easy.

"Mister Potter, Mister Black, Mister Lupin, Mister Pettigrew! I only wish I could end this by saying 'what a surprise'!" The Professor's nostrils flared as she eyed the group. Sirius offered her a weak smile.

"Hi Minnie, what are you doing up at this hour?"

Evidently McGonagall was not in the mood for jokes.

"Five points from Gryffindor each! Miss Potter that includes you, as a deterrent from joining in with your brother's proclivity for late night antics. As for the four of you, you cannot continue marauding around the castle at all hours! To bed, immediately!"

James' eyes sparkled with excitement as they hurried back towards the Gryffindor tower.

"Marauding! I've not heard that one before. What do you think, boys? We're the Marauders of Hogwarts!"

He charged forward with his fist raised in the air, as if brandishing a sword, while the other boys laughed. Suddenly, James stopped and whirled around.

"This is a real moment you know, a moment in history. We're the Marauders, and I just managed to get Hermione into trouble."

Hermione scrunched her nose at him.

"James, Jim, Jimbo, Jiminy Cricket…I spend half my life in trouble because of you, if only you knew how much."

James laughed openly at that, tipping his head back as his eyes sparkled. Throwing his arms around Hermione's shoulders, the two siblings darted through the portrait hole and into the common room. Behind them, Sirius whispered confusedly to Remus.

"Who in Godric's name is Jiminy Cricket?"

Remus snickered.

"A character from a muggle film. Although why she's called him that I have _no_ idea, James is the worst idea for a conscience ever. Although it might be quite likely that we all end up in the belly of the Giant Squid."

Sirius followed his friend through the portrait hole, absolutely none the wiser as to what that statement could have meant.

* * *

 **A/N**

Let me know any feedback!

I do have a question - do people think I should stick with Hermione's POV now that we're into it, or would you be interested in some goings on that it's not logical for her to be privy too? I can't decide whether to leave my background goings on as something that I know about to colour other scenes, or whether to lay them out explicitly for everyone. I know sometimes the Potter parent POVs pop up, but I've kept it to only when Hermione is present. I think if I did change POVs I would keep with that character for extended parts of a chapter as a bare minimum, rather than switching frequently. Thoughts much appreciated!


	8. Hogsmeade

**Chapter 9: Hogsmeade**

* * *

 **A/N**

I want to say an incredibly sincere thanks to everyone who took the time to review on my last chapter, and to offer their opinion on the POV question. This is my first fanfic so it's a learning experience, and I'm really grateful to you for helping me grow.

Sorry for the significant delay, life decided to kick me while I was down recently. Regular updates will now resume.

* * *

 **September 1973**

"James, darling…"

Euphemia Potter reached for her son as the teenager made to bound across Platform 9 ¾, already eager for the start of term. He turned back to his mother with an exasperated grunt echoing in the back of his throat. Euphemia staunchly ignored it.

"Now" she said, reaching and placing her hands on James' shoulders, affectionately stroking him. "Why is it that whenever we say goodbye to you, there's a long list of things we need to cover before I can allow your escape?"

James grinned wickedly at her as his sister laughed beside them both. Hermione leaned on Fleamont and enjoyed a goodbye embrace without the chiding her brother was inevitably about to experience.

"Let's start at the top." Euphemia assumed a put-upon attitude, but her eyes were sparkling with humour that wasn't missed by anyone in the little family. "Can you actually wear your glasses this year? I don't want another owl home from your sister stating you're complaining of headaches because it isn't _cool_ to wear glasses and you're trying to squint at the chalk boards."

James shot a dirty look at his sister, who shrugged unconcernedly. Hermione wasn't above drafting in external help if it meant James would look after himself properly. She had enough to worry about without her brother stumbling around bouncing off suits of armour in the name of looking 'cool'.

Euphemia straightened the frames on James' face and wrinkled her nose at him.

"It might help if you stop being so… _rambunctious_ and then your glasses might not get broken so much."

Hermione snorted at that description. Between Quidditch, with rogue Quaffles and Bludgers likely to smack James in the face at any moment, and his inevitable scuffles with both friends and foe alike, there was little hope for the integrity of James' wire frames. Fleamont bent down and chuckled into his daughter's hair, obviously following a similar train of thought.

"Next item on the agenda," Euphemia continued, as James sighed dramatically and sagged his shoulders.

"Mum, can we hurry this up?" he whined, and she shot him a quelling look.

Hermione turned away from the exchange with a laugh, and narrowly avoided being bowled over by a blur of black rushing past her.

"Mummy P!"

Euphemia's lecture on the number of owls received from Minerva McGonagall was cut off abruptly as Sirius Black collided with her, immediately crushing his arms around the slight woman, and tucking his face into the crook of her neck. He blindly ignored the way his over-summer growth spurt meant he was now significantly larger than the woman in his arms, instead he nuzzled into her silvering curls and held on as though his life depended on it.

"Sirius!" James was delighted both at the sight of his best friend and the rescue from the small amount of telling off he had been receiving, and bounded forward to join in what was now a group hug. Hermione grinned at the enthusiastic reunion. When they had stepped off the train at the end of their second year, Sirius had followed his mother and Regulus to the floo with stooping shoulders. Despite promising to visit over the holiday, they had received no word from him the entire break.

"Mummy P, please don't make me go back there" Sirius said at last, as all three let go, and gave Euphemia space to inspect the boy in front of her. He looked at her with wide, hopeful eyes as Euphemia frowned at him in concern.

"We missed you, darling" she breathed, running her hands through Sirius' fringe to sweep it away from his face, smiling at how he jerked his head back to stop her from making his hair too neat.

"Yes well, a summer of faux-simpering servitude in exchange for the chance to leave the grounds once a week with my _pure-blooded_ friends seems a fair trade doesn't it" he ground out, bitterly. Reaching into his pocket, Sirius pulled out his signed Hogsmeade permission slip and clutched it like it was gold.

"Still, I only need this signed once! Left the old hag a nice surprise in the form of some redecoration in my room…" he grinned at Euphemia, who frowned at him again.

"Now Sirius, I know you don't get on with your family, but it might not be wise to antagonise Walburga quite so" she chided gently.

At the mention of the wider Black family, Hermione looked up and glanced around the platform eagerly in search of the now familiarly coiffed head of black hair. Her letters to Regulus over the summer had gone unanswered as the Potters failed to hear from anyone sequestered away in Grimmauld Place, and she had missed her challenging but loyal younger friend.

Looking around, she found the boy she was looking for, and felt her breath catch. Regulus Black was watching his brother be fussed over by Euphemia with a hungry expression. Next to him, the icy figure of his own mother was determinedly tilting her gaze away from her oldest son, and regarding others on the platform with clear disdain. Regulus' eyes snapped up to Hermione, and she couldn't miss the way his eyebrows briefly drew up as his mouth turned down. Turning sharply from the scene, he kissed his mother on the cheek as she allowed and boarded the train without another glance in her direction.

Hermione jerked away from the scene as Sirius clapped his hands together loudly, making her jump.

"Come on James, look lively! It's not like I _died_ , I've just been imprisoned by my own mother. Much better! And think of it, now we can _legally_ all head to Hogsmeade together" he shot a less-than-sly look at Hermione, who instantly arranged her face into an innocent expression as her mother eyed her suspiciously.

"And at that" she said, sticking her tongue out at Sirius "I'm off to find Marlene now I know you aren't a damsel in need of rescuing, no matter how long your hair is."

Sirius laughed at her words and ran his hand through his long messy black curls. Turning to give her mother a kiss, Hermione noticed her father edging towards James with a package in his hands whilst Euphemia's back was turned. She distinctly thought she heard the words ' _to help keep the number of owls down_ '. Euphemia pulled back and rolled her eyes.

"He thinks I don't know he's passing on his father's blasted invisibility cloak" she whispered to her daughter conspiratorially, and Hermione chuckled.

"Still, it might keep Minerva from discovering them, and what Minerva doesn't know can't hurt her..."

* * *

Hermione fumbled down the train carriage, looking for a flash of red or blonde hair indicating the presence of her best friends. The Hogwarts Express pulled out of the station, it's jerking movement causing Hermione to nearly lose her balance several times. At one particularly intense jerk at a track change after Finsbury Park station, she lost her balance entirely, colliding with an ' _oof_ ' into the unfortunate student passing her.

"Steady on there Hermione, is Marlene's continuous yoga practise not helping your abysmal balance at all?"

Hermione looked up, blushing, into the grinning face of Adie Macmillan. Her own lips widened into a smile as she unceremonious took large fistfuls of the front of his jumper and hauled herself back into a standing position. Huffing, she reached up a hand to flip a mass of curls out of her face.

"Good summer, Adie?" she asked with a laugh, when she had finally collected herself. Adie laughed along with her, and braced his hands against her shoulders, knowing better than to trust her ability to stay upright until the train had moved out of London and on to straighter tracks.

"It was alright I suppose, but my life is that much sunnier for seeing you here." He flashed another smile at her, and Hermione felt something uncomfortable wriggle in her stomach. She blushed again and distracted herself from the feeling by punching him on the arm.

"Don't tease, Adie" she scowled at him. "Oh! Did you get your Hogsmeade permission slip signed? We should go down together properly this year."

Adie regarded her with a funny look on his face and rubbed where she had punched him on the arm. Hermione supposed that with a brother who was much stronger than her, and rather prone to using his strength to fight her for the last slice of cake, she had developed a bit of a hard punch to ensure she had a fighting chance in their household. She reached up and rubbed Adie's arm apologetically, ignoring the way he grinned when she did so. She especially ignored the beginnings of firm muscle underneath his sleeve. And just when did the boys in her year start getting so _tall_?

"Speaking of, did you ever tell your brother where you found out about the tunnel behind the one-eyed witch?"

Hermione regarded him with an imperious look and tilted her chin in defiance.

"I don't know what you mean, Macmillan, I heard it from Marlene who heard it from her dad."

Adie laughed loudly at that.

"Right" he said, edging a step closer to her. "And he was OK with the idea that you had absconded from school grounds and headed down to Hogsmeade _by yourself_?"

"My brother trusts me" Hermione said, with a smirk. Adie tutted gently.

"More fool him, then" he said quietly, returning her slightly wicked look.

"Hermione!"

Hermione jerked her head around, spotting the grinning face of Marlene hanging out of a compartment further down the carriage, waving wildly.

"Marley! I'm coming!"

Hermione stepped around Adie, already focussed on heading to her friends, and asking about their summers. Lily and Marlene had both been away with their families. Hermione hoped Severus was there too, since she worried about him whenever he had to go home for any extended period. Adie laughed as she started to stride off with purpose.

"See you in the library then, Hermione!"

Hermione turned and gave him a non-committal wave and a quick smile, turning away before she could see Adie stood in the corridor watching her leave, shaking his head with a smile on his face.

Barging in to the compartment Marlene had hailed her from, Hermione was dismayed to see only Marlene, Lily, Mary, and Alice sat together. She masked it quickly and greeted them all enthusiastically, before wriggling in to sit next to Marlene, and settling back to hear about their summers. As Mary launched into an enthusiastic description of _the best pizza ever in the history of pizza_ from her holiday in Florence, Hermione whispered quickly into Marlene's ear.

"Have either of you seen Severus yet?"

Marlene shifted uncomfortable, her face darkening.

"Lily asked him to come and sit with us, but he turned to follow after Lestrange, Avery, Mulciber, and Rosier."

Hermione felt her stomach twist uncomfortably. Rodolphus Lestrange and his two lackeys, Marcus Avery and Dorian Mulciber, made her skin crawl. The three seemed to take pride in living up to every negative stereotype of Slytherin her brother so eagerly believed in. Their campaign of nastiness and bullying, hexing younger students in the corridors, was making her job of opening James' mind nigh on impossible. The nastiness seemed to only increase as the three got older, thereby widening the pool of targets, and increasing their spell repertoire. Hermione couldn't decide if it was a saving grace that Evan appeared to consider himself above such low-level bulling of their school peers. She and Regulus had come to an unspoken agreement not to debate issues of magical purity within reach of Evan's intensely assessing gaze, though the older boy had not once expressed an opinion one way or the other in front of her since his vicious use of the term _blood traitor_ to Sirius the year prior. Instead, he had ended her second year with a flourishing goodbye in the library, pressing his lips to the back of her hand before smirking at her and drawling ' _don't forget me, ma bichette_ ' as Regulus had looked on, watching with an eyebrow raised.

Marlene watched Hermione's face fall and nodded.

"My reaction, exactly. I just can't understand why he would want to hang out with them. They're bullies, simply put."

Hermione worried her bottom lip between her teeth.

"If he's doing this because my brother and his friends tease him…" she cut herself off with a sigh, unsure as to what was going on in Severus' head. For all her attempts at open mindedness, hanging out with _Avery_ and _Mulciber_ was something she simply couldn't begin to understand. Marlene nudged her.

"You can't feel responsible to for every decision that other people make, Hermione" the blonde said, kindly. "You aren't responsible for your brother, or for Sirius, or for Remus and Peter. You aren't responsible for Severus, or Regulus for that matter. You need to take the weight of the world off your shoulders, Atlas. Merlin knows our friends have enough baggage, you won't cope trying to carry it all."

Marlene wrapped a protective arm around Hermione's shoulder, knowing full well her best friend would ignore everything she had said, and would continue on in her admirable but somewhat naïve view that everything could be fixed with the right logic applied. Luckily, Mary managed to provide enough of a shock at that point that Hermione was instantly startled out of her brooding.

"So did you know, Hogsmeade is basically just a hook up excuse? Loads of couples go as a date, and there's a bit of woods near the Shrieking Shack that's meant to be a make-out hotspot, a fourth year told me about it last year." Mary was fidgeting eagerly on the edge of her seat, perfectly coiffed blonde hair bouncing with her excited movements.

Hermione jerked from Marlene, suddenly choking on thin air.

"Oh Merlin" she gasped, as Marlene whacked her on the back. "I think I just accidentally propositioned Adie Macmillan." Marlene dropped the helping hand slapping on Hermione's back in favour of covering her own mouth as an inadvertent cackle erupted.

"How on earth did you do that?!" she gasped from behind fingers that were trying to hide her smile. Hermione looked traumatised.

"I just asked if he'd got his Hogsmeade permission slip signed! I thought he was looking at me funny…and…" she took a deep breath "and we already sneaked out to Hogsmeade via a passageway together last year" she groaned, dropping her reddening face into her hands.

"Hermione!" Lily shrieked. "This is the kind of information you are meant to _share_ with the girls! I rule you have violated the Girl Code and must divulge all details _immediately_!"

Hermione scoffed, but didn't pick her face up from her hands. Marlene thought she could see steam rising from her scalp, such was the intensity of her blush.

"I just…Adie's the James of Hufflepuff, OK? A bit of a lovable trouble maker." Lily snorted at that description. "And I wanted to get James something he'd really like for his birthday, so I asked Adie, and Adie knew about the passageway to Hogsmeade, it comes out in Honeydukes cellar, and he said wouldn't it be so much better if when I showed it, I already had something from Honeydukes there to show him that I'd already been." Hermione looked up miserably. "Nothing happened though, we went to Honeydukes on a Hogsmeade weekend, so it wouldn't be suspicious, Adie went and paid for the chocolate, and we sneaked back. I didn't realise there was some sort of _implication_."

Lily was in fits of giggles at her friend's consternation, and Marlene was patting Hermione's shoulder in a mildly patronising way.

"So, do you actually fancy him then?" Lily demanded, a wide smile on her face as Hermione wrinkled her nose.

"No! I don't know. We're thirteen, elective classes start this year, my friends are complicated enough as it is. Can I have another year to think about it?"

The mood sobered a little at that. Mary and Alice couldn't understand the other girls' attempts to cling to their friendship with Severus Snape, a greasy haired creep as far as they were concerned. And Lily and Marlene were more than wary of Hermione's friendship with Regulus, though for different reasons. Lily couldn't look past the views Regulus had expressed early in the friendship, much as Hermione insisted his thinking had evolved, and Marlene was concerned that Hermione was trying to single-handedly rescue every lost little lamb, despite the impact on her own well-being.

Lily smirked, breaking the tension that had suddenly fallen on the compartment.

"Poor Adie, such mixed signals." Hermione threw her bag at her.

* * *

Further down the carriage, Peter slinked back into the compartment with the other boys, grinning slyly.

"James, what would you do if you found out someone was interested in your sister?"

Both Sirius and James' heads snapped up at the question, frowning.

"Why? What have you heard?" James demanded, cracking his knuckles menacingly.

"Overheard something" Peter shrugged, unconcerned. "What's in it for me?"

James scowled and rolled his eyes.

"I'll trade you a chocolate frog for the name of the fucker" he growled, and Peter's grin widened.

"I heard your sister sneaked off school boundaries last year with _Adie Macmillan_ " he announced, triumphantly. "And I heard she asked him to Hogsmeade this term. Now what's _that_ worth?"

James had flushed bright red as Peter spoke, his eyes flashing.

"Took her off grounds? Without speaking to me? I'll kill him."

"I'll help!" growled Sirius, leaping to his feet. Peter's eyes gleamed as James chucked him two chocolate frogs.

Remus looked up from the book he was reading in the corner of the compartment, lazily flicking his wand to seal the compartment door shut before the two boys could escape.

"Lupin! You open this door, I've got a Hufflepuff to murder!" James cried, outraged at the intervention.

"Your sister, as much as you want to protect her against the evils of the world such as _boys_ , is a fully autonomous individual in her own right" Remus said casually, turning his eyes back to the pages in front of him. "I promise you now, if you confront Macmillan like this, she'll string you up by your ankles in the middle of the Great Hall."

James clenched his fists and raised his eyes skyward, counting to ten slowly in the way his sister had been urging him to do before he spoke to any Slytherins.

"Fine" he huffed, throwing himself back to his seat in a sulk. "But when I'm calmer, me and Macmillan are going to have words."

"Fine?!" shrieked Sirius, his mouth agape at James' easy acquiescence. "But it's Hermione we're talking about! And Macmillan! He's not good for her."

Remus turned interested eyes to Sirius, assessing him quietly, and Sirius dropped his gaze at the look.

"OK, fine" he said, throwing himself down inelegantly beside James. "But you know what this means, we need to branch out from Slytherin for our pranks this year."

James perked up considerably at this thought.

* * *

 **October 1973**

"Right, spill. What's going on?"

Hermione dumped her bag onto the desk in the library in front of Regulus, regarding the younger boy appraisingly as he scowled up at her. Her Slytherin friend had been avoiding her for weeks and had gotten into a series of increasingly nasty altercations with the so-called "Marauders".

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean" Regulus sniffed dismissively, pushing her bag from where it blocked his parchment, and beginning to scratch away again with his quill.

Hermione pursed her lips, and sat down heavily in the chair opposite, staunchly ignoring Regulus' attempt at a withering glare. She unloaded her books to stack into a neat pile at the side of her and regarded her carefully drawn out list of assignments to wait for Regulus to crack.

The boy put down his quill with a sigh, lowering his head and seeming to count to ten under his breath.

"What do you want?" he asked, and Hermione immediately smiled brightly at him.

"I'm so glad you asked, Reggie! How about we start with why you're avoiding me, and then we move on to why you're so angry with both of our brothers, hmm?"

Regulus regarded her for a moment, clearly mentally calculating just how long he thought he could continue avoiding the stubborn Potter, before growling and giving in. His shoulders slumped, and his mouth turned down in much the same way as when she had seen him on Platform 9 ¾. He began twisting the feathers of his quill in his fingers as Hermione patiently waited for him to begin.

"I had a really good summer" he said finally, his eyes darting up to meet her own. Hermione's forehead furrowed in confusion, and Regulus sighed. "I had my brother back all summer, it was like…like before he came to Hogwarts. Maybe even better, because he didn't pick any fights with Mum for the whole holiday even when she went off about how Gryffindors are blood traitors. He spent time with me again, and we were actually allowed to speak to one another."

The quill was slowly being shredded into pieces, little feathers plucked and falling onto his assignment in front of him. Regulus scowled.

"And then we get to the platform, and he turns to our mother and says it was only to get his permission slip signed, that he hates our family and everything it stands for, and he's off to find his _brother_."

Hermione's stomach dropped a little. She could see how much it hurt Regulus every time Sirius and James referred to each other as family, knew he felt that Sirius was using James to replace him.

"He never thinks of me when he says things like that!" Regulus burst out suddenly, making Hermione jump. "It's like he forgets that he'll be off in Godric's Hollow come next holiday, and I'll be the one who has to stay behind with them."

"Why do you?" asked Hermione, curiously. "You're friends with me now, why don't you come and stay when Sirius does? Why are you so determined to damage your relationship further?"

Regulus sneered at her.

"And leave my parents all on their own? Turn my back on everything they've ever taught me? I might not agree with everything, and their attempts at discipline might be… _intense_ , but does that really mean that I should walk away from my family? I'm not as selfish as Sirius is.

"And your brother…sometimes the two of you don't know how _lucky_ you are. You have loving parents, and strong friendships. And your brother takes all that and uses it to be a total arsehole!" Regulus was panting by the end of his rant, face flushed uncharacteristically.

Hermione sat quietly, watching as Regulus picked up his wand to banish the remains of his ruined quill, and search his bag for a replacement. She couldn't see an easy way to reach a compromise between the two brothers, she could only resolve to be the best friend she could be to them both, and to be glad that her own family didn't come with such struggles. She reached forward and clasped Regulus' hand for a moment, before leaning back.

"So…Hogsmeade weekend coming up after Halloween, do you want anything from Honeydukes?"

Regulus looked at her gratefully before smirking.

"I'm a Slytherin and you just made me share my feelings. _Again_ , I might add. I think you owe me the biggest bar of chocolate you can find."

Hermione smiled warmly and pulled her first assignment towards herself, settling in for a long session of studying. She took one look at the essay title and began flipping through her assigned textbook.

"And you have a least one strong friendship" she added, without looking up from her book. She took the silence from the other side of the table as acceptance.

* * *

 **November 1973**

"FREEDOM!"

Sirius burst through the doors to the Entrance Hall and out into the courtyard, arms held aloft in triumph. Hermione watched as Professor McGonagall pursed her lips in agitation, arm outstretched and waiting for their signed Hogsmeade permission slips. Sirius clutched his signed parchment tightly and gave it a kiss with a loud smacking sound, before slapping it enthusiastically into the hand of his Head of House.

"There you go, Minnie! Thank Merlin I only have to get that signed once."

He grinned up into the scowling face of their professor.

"Five points from Gryffindor for continued cheek, Mister Black, and do try to _behave_ yourself while you're in the village, at least for this first trip down. Maybe Miss Potter can help reign you in."

Hermione placed her own signed permission slip into the professor's hand with a groan.

"Come on, Professor, you're setting me up for a fall" she whined. One look at the almost manic grin on Sirius' face and anyone could see there would be no ' _reigning him in_ ' on this trip. Professor McGonagall's lips twitched briefly before she waved the rowdy group on.

Hermione stepped back to link arms with Marlene, as Lily and Alice followed them. Despite the assertions in the train on their way to school for the term, it was only Mary who had decided to use the Hogsmeade weekend trip as an opportunity for a date. She had left the dormitory that morning giggling furiously to meet her new Ravenclaw beau. The rest of the girls, having not been approached by any boys, and Hermione having avoided Adie Macmillan at all costs in her mortification, had decided to treat the weekend as an opportunity for a girl's excursion.

As they headed on the walk down to the village, the girls watched as the 'Marauders' barrelled ahead of them, playfully pushing and shoving each other. More than once, Lily scoffed as James ruffled his hair, messing it up even more than it did so naturally. Hermione tried to ignore Lily's disdain; she knew that James was self-conscious about having to now permanently wear his glasses and was trying to compensate for this with other aspects of his appearance.

"So, who do you think is next for a date, after Mary?" Marlene teased the other girls as they walked through the village. Lily tapped her chin thoughtfully, and then a slow, wicked smile spread across her face.

"I know…" she said slowly.

"Lily, I'm not sure I like that look on your face" Alice said, looking at the girl on her arm with mild alarm.

"Nonsense Alice, I'm full of nothing but good ideas. Tell her, girls" Lily demanded primly, tossing her flaming hair over her shoulder.

"Debatable" muttered Marlene, smiling innocently when Lily glared at her.

"This idea though, definitely a good one" Lily assured them. Hermione followed Lily's eye line, spotting a group of Gryffindors from the year above near the Three Broomsticks. One particular mop of brown hair caught her attention.

"Oh!" Hermione gasped, turning to Lily with a grin.

"No no, now there's two of them. Marlene, there's two of them!" Alice's expression changed from mild alarm to full on panic.

"Relax, darling, just go with the flow…Frank! Off for a drink, are we?"

The boy in question looked up from where he had been laughing with his friends, and grinned at the approaching third years. His eyes fell on Alice, still being firmly dragged along by Lily, and a slight blush suddenly swept across his cheeks.

"Hi girls" he grinned, before waving between the two groups and conducting quick cursory introductions. "We couldn't decide between Honeydukes or a warm drink first, just debating it now."

"Actually, could you do us a favour?" Lily asked, looking up at Frank with wide, innocent eyes, and staunchly ignoring the way Alice was attempting to sink her nails into Lily's arm through her robes. "It's Alice's birthday soon and we've been terrible friends, we need to get her a present and we can't do that while she's with us. Could you keep her occupied for a bit for us, please?"

Hermione was pretty sure it would be possible to cook eggs on the heat now flushing poor Alice's cheeks, but Frank's face lit up like all his Christmases had come at once. His friends behind him laughed and clapped him on the back, quickly departing with the excuse that they wanted Honeydukes first anyway. Hermione grinned, it seemed like this was a good idea of Lily's after all.

"It would be my pleasure, Miss Fawley, if I could take you for a hot chocolate?"

Frank held his arm out to Alice, and she shyly reached forward to take hold of him. Lily beamed as the two made their way into the Three Broomsticks, Frank holding the door open for his new companion to pass through.

"Well, my work here is done. Those two have been making eyes at each other across the common room for the past year, for God's sake." Lily whirled on the other two girls. "Right then, what's the plan, ladies?"

"Please can I go to the bookshop?" begged Hermione, ignoring the roll of Lily's eyes.

"You're so predictable" Marlene said fondly, taking hold of Hermione's arm again and linking her other arm through Lily's as the trio set off through the crisp air.

* * *

After they had visited as many places as possible, just so Lily could say they had seen _everything_ at least _once_ (' _all the better to organise our next trip properly_ ') the girls were beginning the slow trek back to the castle when Hermione spotted Severus up ahead.

"Hey! Sev!"

They picked up speed to catch up with the lone figure, Lily putting on an extra burst at the end to jump and tackle her absent best friend. Hermione caught the way Severus' face lit up before he caught the little witch in his arms and both went flying back to land with a ' _thump!_ '

Pinned underneath the feisty redhead, Severus raised an eyebrow at his friend's antics.

"Why hello Lils, long time no see" he drawled, smirking a little.

"Yes, and whose fault is that, Severus Snape?" Lily demanded, whacking her friend soundly on the arm before rolling off him and reaching an arm down to pull him to his feet. Severus dusted himself off but hadn't yet lost the almost-genuine smile.

"I'll admit, I have been a little remiss in my friendship duties of late" he said, inclining his head in an apologetic nod. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Is that supposed to be an apology, Sev? Honestly, you Slytherins. It's like you speak a whole different language."

Hermione and Marlene shared a smile at the way their friend had lit up to see Severus. The boy had grown increasingly elusive recently, between his budding friendships with less tolerant Slytherins, and his increasing time spent in the potions practice laboratories. Lily was often torn between being hurt that she was forced to miss her friend so often and being ecstatic for him that he had found something he was both so talented at and so passionate about.

"I'll forgive you" Lily said, tucking her arm through Severus' as they continued their journey back to the school "if you tell me something exciting you've been working on recently."

Severus smiled warmly at her enthusiasm, his delight that Lily was genuinely interested in his extra studies overwhelming his Slytherin tendency to hold his cards close to his chest.

"Well, I've been experimenting with stirring techniques. I've found that adding a counter-clockwise stir every seventh-"

"Oi! What's all this then?"

A loud voice sounded from behind them, causing Severus to flinch and cut off his excited speech to Lily. Instantly Hermione could see his usual guarded shutters closing across his face.

Charging up behind them, James Potter was regarding Severus and Lily's linked arms with a nasty sneer twisting his features.

"What are you doing _Snivellus_ , don't get your grease all over Evans" he spat, nastily.

Hermione growled, stepping forward between her brother and her friends. James and his friends' repeated references to Severus' greasy hair were highly unfair in her opinion. Severus' prolonged amount of time around steamy potion fumes meant he often had issues with residue, and she knew his parents could not afford the luxury of some of the longer acting cleansing shampoos that other students benefitted from. It was a point of pride for Severus that he would also not ask for help, nor borrow anyone else's supplies.

"Back off James, Severus did absolutely nothing to you just then."

"Listen to your keeper, Potter. Run along now, you aren't wanted here" Severus sneered from behind her. He tightened his grip on Lily's arm, and a smug look spread across his face as James' cheeks pinked. Before Hermione could do anything to intervene, her brother had whipped out his wand and aimed a stinging hex at Severus' arm, causing the boy to yelp and jump back from Lily. James grinned vindictively.

"Enough, enough!" Lily screeched, as Severus also drew his wand and brandished it at the younger Potter. "Stop antagonising each other! Potter, get over yourself, you nasty piece of work! Go mess with your hair some more."

With that, Lily span on her heel and marched towards the castle, grabbing a fistful of Severus' robes to pull the boy along with her before the fight could degenerate any further. James watched her go with a frown. Turning to his sister, his eyebrows drew up in concern.

"Oh James" Hermione muttered, shaking her head. "Are you just realising it now?"

James looked dazed and confused, looking from his sister to the retreating form of Lily Evans. The other Marauders emerged suddenly in view, running to catch up and then doubling over panting.

"Merlin James, what was that? One minute you were there, next you were running off!" Remus groaned, clutching a stitch in his side. Hermione rolled her eyes and turned with Marlene to head back to the castle.

"I think our dear little James Potter has finally discovered he's in love with Lily" she tossed back over her shoulder. Turning to Marlene she muttered "and Merlin help us all when Lily realises it too."

* * *

 **A/N**

That track change near Finsbury Park has been throwing me into the arms of random commuters for half my life, so it makes a guest appearance here.


End file.
